The Night Garden
by immortalpen
Summary: Caroline Forbes has a secret. She is an extraordinary girl in an ordinary world. But when her brother goes missing, and she discovers his hidden quest to reach the mysterious Night Garden, she begins to question everything she thought she knew about her world and the things that go bump in the night.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note - Hey guys, if anyone is still reading Klaroline Fanfic (like I am)) then I wanted to share this story with you. I've been trying to get back into writing on a regular basis, and this is the result so far, I don't know where its going, or how its going to pan out, or how long or short it will be... not much to go on, sorry!

I do know it will be a relatively slow burn Klaroline, in fact, they may not meet for a few chapters in this one initially as it has a much richer background story and character building (hopefully). It is also a dark and angsty fic, so don't read if that isn't your thing.

Constructive criticism always welcome!

The Night Garden

Chapter 1

Caroline narrowed her eyes at the suspect in front of her. Despite all the obvious signs, all the signs that her training told her meant he was lying, his shifty eyes, the sweat on his brow, how one hand picked at the other as he mumbled his responses, as he stuttered out his alibi, she knew he wasn't lying.

She felt Tyler, her partner shift beside her, and took it as signal to convene outside.

She followed his broad back from the interrogation room.

"Well? Tell me we finally got our guy for this" Tyler said, filling his coffee cup as he spoke.

"Sorry. He's telling the truth" she said, watching a scowl descend over Tyler's usually good natured features.

"Are you sure, wait, don't answer that, I know better." He said, taking a large swallow of coffee, before checking the time.

"Geez, we need to get out of here. Let's get rid of this guy and grab dinner?" he offered as he pulled out the paperwork to get the suspect released.

She checked her phone as they started filling in the forms.

"I can't, Matt's waiting, I'm already later than I told him I'd be" she said a little guiltily. She caught Tyler's reprimanding look.

"Stop, you're the world's best adopted sister, so I don't want to hear it. He's a lucky kid" Tyler said, and Caroline tensed for a moment as his hand seemed to hover over hers, and she thought that he might cross that line they had been playing with more and more often in the last few months, since Tyler's divorce was finalised. The moment played out, and awkwardness seemed to swallow any spontaneity the movement would have had. Tyler picked up his pen, clearing his throat as he did.

"You know, this doesn't need both of us. I'll finish up, you go home and see your baby bro."

"You don't mind?"

"Without you, I'd be trying to crack holes in that guy's story half the night, you're really saving me time" he said, a twinkle in his dark eyes. She nodded gratefully, aware of the truth of that statement as she slipped her leather jacket on and wrapped a scarf around her neck, bundling her blonde curls up tightly.

"Well, see you tomorrow" she said, as she slipped out, leaving Tyler in the dim light of the deserted office, quickly making her way down the quiet precinct hallways and through the reception, where she waved to the night staff, before pushing through the door and out onto the street.

The sounds of the city in the night rushed in, cars honking and music playing down the block, a couple of teenagers giggling at a video on their phones as they walked past. She took a deep breath, shrugging off the mantle of all day in the office, before turning and heading down the street toward the subway.

The crowds around union square were already piling up, as she quickly dodged party goers and drunks, stepping lightly down the narrow stairs. Walking against the masses as she turned toward the platform for Brooklyn bound trains, she found the platform eerily quiet for a moment, before spotting an older lady sitting further along, deeply embroiled in a passionate phone conversation.

She typed a quick message to Matt, telling she'd be home soon, and watched for her train. It was something she had always done when waiting in the station, looking along the track, into the darkness, sometimes seeing the signals within the tunnel changing in the dark. She imagined the whole network of underground tunnels, shrouded in perpetual darkness, underneath the city, like a midnight labyrinth.

The training rounded an invisible corner, lighting up the tunnel beyond as it finally pulled to a stop in front of her, the door sliding cheerfully open.

As she got on, she looked to see where the older woman was, seeing that her conversation had prevented her getting on the train. She sat down, the carriage was almost empty, and pulled out her book.

The stops flew past as the travelled the short distance, and as they neared her stop, she looked up to find she was the only one left in her carriage. The train started to slow, and she pushed her book into her bag and swung it over her shoulder as she stood, holding onto a strap, and started to make her way up the swaying train to the door.

As she went, she felt a strange breeze blow through the air, as though someone had opened the window behind her. It blew over her, her arms instantly goosepimpling as it whistled over her with a sigh.

 _"Caroline"_ she turned her head, seeing again the empty carriage, nothing to spook her.

Outside the train had slowed a little in the last tunnel and outside the windows were the dense black of the inner walls of the tunnel.

" _Caroline"_ she felt more than heard the whisper brush over her ear and shoulder, and spun around, feeling silly even as she did.

She had definitely been working too much lately, especially on the Jones case, which, for some reason, was really getting under her skin. Maybe it was because the slight, albeit it, extremely slight connection to her, she just couldn't seem to shake it, it was always just one thought away lately.

Divine Jones, a phony fortune teller, decent pick pocket and outstanding con artist had gone missing 2 weeks ago, at best guess, perhaps more. It had only been picked up when one of his regulars had found his flat locked and no sign of him for two sessions, that alarms had been raised.

Inside they had found little evidence that he hadn't just decided to move on. His run down apartment held nothing of real value, except a few stolen mobile phones and about $500 in cash, and an envelope contained a mystery white powder. The cash bothered her, if he were packing up to leave, who wouldn't take cash, unless it had been in a hurry. The powder was at the lab for tests, the phones were being traced back to the owners. It wasn't a priority case, and other ones, such as the one they had been questioning a suspect for this evening were far more important. And yet, her mind kept straying to Divine Jones. It wasn't the first time shed been to his apartment, a fact she had neglected to tell Tyler.

When she'd first moved to the city, 21 and alone, running from her small town and its lack of anonymity, she had finally tried to find answers for the problems that had plagued her, her entire life. Finding Jone's ad tacked up in her local market, she had hesitantly made an appointment. Upon arrival, and being told to cough up $50 up front before her reading, she hadn't spent more than 10 minutes there.

She could recall most of the rubbish he had spouted, straight from tarot reading for dummies. You're different and unique, your future is all before you, you will be successful and meet the man of your dreams, yada yada yada. The only thing of interest, and something she thought of every time she watched the signal lights, was something he'd said at the end, as she had been about leaving, her disappointment clear on her face.

"Watch for yellow lights, remember, they mean danger, caution. No, wait –" his hand had clamped down on her wrist as she tugged open the door, forcing her to look around at him.

"Not yellow, gold, the golden lights. Stay away from the golden light…"

"Why?" she'd asked curious, despite herself.

"Because they will be the end, the end of everything, the end of you" he'd muttered, sweat popping up on his brow. She loosened herself and left, £100 poorer, and no answers, putting the display down to a last attempt to gain a positive Yelp review.

The lights in the carriage flickered suddenly, plunging her back to reality, and she saw her reflection vanish in the glass doors, replaced by darkness. She felt unease snake up her spine, her hand moved to the gun on her hip, its steady weight reassuring her. She was armed, she was trained, she was a cop, and not about to be scared of her own shadow.

As her thoughts resolved themselves, and her childish fear receded, the lights flickered one last time, before blinking on properly, and the train started inching along. The bright lights of the platform replaced the dark wall of the tunnel and she was soon stepping out at her stop, already anticipating getting home. Maybe Matt would want to order a pizza, or Chinese, they could watch a movie, or go out to eat she mused as she ambled along her street. She saw the familiar lights of neighbours, a family taking their small children out of the car at the curb, and someone walking their dog, circling a tree suspiciously, nose to the ground.

She glanced up at her apartment window as she jogged up the steps, seeing the light was off. She hoped Matt hadn't gone out somewhere, she thought as she entered the inner hall, and walked the last flight of steps to her apartment door. She thought fleetingly what kind of pizza she felt like, and she remembered these thoughts in the days and weeks to come.

In the way that you see your life flash before your eyes, before you die, or the way Bilbo Baggins thought of returning home for his handkerchief, she saw the mundane normality of her life, perfect, ordinary and hard won. She remembered those thoughts for a long time, as it turned out they were to be her last. Her last ordinary thoughts, about an ordinary world, where she was an extraordinary girl. Before it all changed irreparably.

Her apartment door was ajar, the darkness inside seeping out. She frowned as she approached, thinking it was strange, but maybe not unheard of that Matt would be careless with locking up. A crunch under her feet alerted her to glass, strewn on the ground, thousands of crystal droplets littering the floor. She stopped in her tracks, her senses flying into high alert, her hand reaching for her weapon. She felt her police training take over, the analytical way she started noting the details of the scene. The scene, she almost shuddered at the thought. It wasn't a scene, she told herself, she was just being cautious. She got to the door and peered into the gap. There was an inky blackness inside, so dark, the curtains must be drawn in the entire place. It was also silent, still and empty feeling. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind, feeling gently. She slowly nudged open the door, and stepped inside. Her hand reached for the light switch, and she found it already in the on position. As she took her hand away, she felt a wetness on her fingertips. The light from the hall fell over a slash of crimson on her hand, and she bit down a cry of fear. She followed the rectangle of light from the hall further into the darkness. She knew she should call for back up, but she felt compelled to check and see if Matt was here first, if he was hurt. She supressed the thought even as it formed.

She checked the kitchen and sitting room, finding them empty, and devoid of signs of struggle. She progressed further in, and slowly entered her bedroom, stopping on the threshold as she did, her heart skidding into her throat.

The first thing that hit her was the smell, dark and coopery, the blood burned her nose and sent her heart into shock. She edged around the once white bed, and reached for the curtains to let more light in. She stopped, a prickling sensation creeping up her back as she realised they were open. She could see outside, and yet, no light was coming into the room. It was the strangest sensation, as though something in the room was absorbing every stray particle of streetlight.

 _"Caroline"_

She could feel her hair stand on end as she turned slowly to face the empty room in front of her. The darkness seemed like velvet, as though if she reached out to the touch the air in front of her, it would be solid, a thick, spongy wall.

 _"Come to me"_

"Who's there? I am a police officer and I am armed." She called, her voice steadier than she had thought it would be. She slowly raised her gun in front of her, the tattoo of her heart beat beating in her ears. She let her eyes adjust to the dark, making more shapes out, the macabre scene on the bed, blood, too much blood, and then a trail through to the next room. She thought perhaps there was something in the mirror, though it was hard to tell.

 _"Caroline"_ the same whisper swept over her, and flinched as she felt that peculiar darkness swirl over her. She spun around, and stepped back, trying to escape the strange thickened air, it smelled of the earth before storms, full of power and foreboding. It wrapped her up, suffocated her, tugged her hair and caressed her face. She fought the impulse to breath, and clamped her mouth and eyes shut. She didn't know why, but she had this awful fear of breathing in the noxious air. She held her breath, and stood waiting, counting in her head, knowing exactly how long she could hold her breath. It seemed to hover, wait around her, before a letting go with a long sigh, and when it started to recede she could see the room start to brighten with the moonlight, which should have been streaming in the window.

 _"Soon"_ the voice promised as it slipped completely away, leaving her standing, frozen in her pose, her gun raised at invisible opponents.

Suddenly the lights blinked on, and she could hear the TV come on in the next room, filling the room in cheerful chatter so at odds with the picture she could finally make out before her.

Her bed was smeared in blood, fresh, it was bright, and spilled in a cross pattern, deepest at the corners, making it seem as though someone had been held down spread eagled, and cut, wrists and ankles. She felt a sob shutter in her chest as she saw a shoe, tumbled off in the fray, Matt's blue converse.

The rest of the room was a gruesome tableau, with blood splashed on the walls, and a hand print smeared as the trail moved to the next room. She saw the mirror then, as she followed the trail, seeing her own footprints had walked through it.

Something had been scratched in it, deeply into the surface.

 _We'll be waiting._

She fumbled for her phone and called it in, her voice shaking as she did, and quickly snapped a few photos with her phone, to remember the scene. She tried Matt's cell, and found it ringing in the spare room, along with his wallet and keys. The rest of the room seemed undisturbed, in the quick glance she gave it.

She was waiting in the hall when the police came, and she waited outside, trusting her colleagues to preserve the scene as she tried to collect herself.

"Caroline! Are you alright?" Tyler's concerned voice came from the hall, and she looked up to see him striding toward her, his handsome face twisted in concern. His sympathetic eyes undid her. She shook her head slightly, feeling an overwhelming urge to cry bear down. She bit her lip and fell in his arms as they enveloped her.

"Matt was here?" he asked, and she buried her face further into his welcome embrace.

"He's hurt, we have to find him" she breathed as she got control of her breathing. She leaned back as Tyler brushed her hair off her flushed face and studied her, his mouth set in a grim line.

"We will" he reassured her, and she stared at him in shock. Lie. He was lying. The knowledge coursed through her veins as she stood, shock numbing her bit by bit as she stared at the wall.

"Let's get out of here, you can stay with me, until we get this all processed. Unless you've somewhere else you'd like to go? Name it, I'll take you" he said.

"I… I don't know. Shouldn't I be here, in case. Just in case he comes back" she said, her voice sounding alien in her ears. Tyler was shaking his head.

"You can't stay in an active crime scene, anyway the perps might come back. Did they take anything?" Caroline went to answer and found she had no idea.

"Let's talk tomorrow, let's get you a shower and some sleep now" he ordered, and she found herself being propelled forward by his insistent arm around her back. The cool night air was like a dousing after the close hallway, the smell of Matt's pain, heavy in the air.

"Tomorrow we will figure it all out, don't worry, Caroline, we will find him" he was saying, and all she could think, as she tensed her jaw and bit her tongue was… liar.

Caroline had known she was different from other children at a very young age. Her mother had always said she was wise beyond her years, and she had indeed confirmed that with every passing year. She had never fallen for the ruse of Santa, even as a young child, never been taken in by any ruse, much to her mother's disappointment. As she had progressed into high school, the problem, if that's what it was had seemed more apparent every day. She was a straight A student, easily able to identify what was important to cover in her revision before the test, despite what the teacher told the class. She never dated much, though she'd been asked. She became known for asking strange questions, lacking in social niceties, and indeed a little awkward and abrupt. When the captain of the football team had asked her to prom, she had looked him in the eye.

"Do you expect me to sleep with you if we go together?" she'd asked, and he'd laughed uncomfortably.

"Of course not Caroline, It'd just be fun, dancing, hanging out, no pressure, I promise" he'd said, with a sincerity born with practised lying, shining in his eyes.

"I don't think so." She'd sweetly replied, walking away without a backwards glance, confirming her reputation as the Ice Queen of Mystic falls.

Since she could remember Caroline had been able to tell when people were lying. She knew straight away when someone told the truth and when someone lied. That gift, if you'd like to call it that, grew in complexity as she got older. To begin with, you could have called it having strong intuition or instincts. However, as she got older, it became more, blossoming as she did. She began to be able to tell when someone thought they were telling the truth, which mean she was able to see the truth of a situation. It was the biggest reason she had become a cop, to use the skill however she could to help people. Lately though, it had started to become something even more, and the newest development, scared her. When Tyler had said that they'd find Matt, she'd instantly known that they wouldn't. That was what her gift was changing into. The ability to glimpse the future. It was a terrifying power, and she wished it away every day, wished to return to simpler times, and yet, each day it grew stronger. It didn't mean that she wouldn't find Matt, or that Matt wouldn't turn up, all she knew for sure, is that if she found Matt, Tyler wouldn't be there.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When morning rolled around, she was already drinking her second cup of coffee when Tyler staggered out of his room at 7am.

"We need to get over to the apartment, start going through Matt's things" she said as she grabbed her bag, and looked expectantly over at Tyler. He took a gulp of coffee and nodded.

"Sure, let me just get breakfast" he said, and took in her stance and position near the door.

"Or I'll grab something on the way" he conceded as they headed out.

The area around the apartment was still blocked off, and they got past the patrol officer with their badges and climbed the stairs quickly. Caroline tried not to notice her heartbeat elevating as she retraced her steps from the previous evening. The door was shut, with crime scene tape barring the way.

Inside, it was clear that a lot of the scene had been processed last night, which surprised her. She saw where pictures had been taken, prints dusted. They moved carefully, snapping on gloves, and entered the spare room. Grabbing evidence bags, as Tyler phoned in to the station, she started to look through Matt's personal possessions. She mentally apologised for the intrusion, while she laid aside underwear and a pack of condoms in his bag. Shuffling deeper, she found a couple of books and a pad of paper, as well as a beatup laptop. She laid the items out on the bed, looking carefully through pockets for any slips of paper, scribbled notes and bagged anything she found, assigning it numbers for ease of reference in the case.

Next, she sat down and opened the lid of the laptop. It booted surprising fast, given how old she had judged it to be. The desktop was pretty bare, some playlist downloaded, some photos around New York, by the look of them, dated a couple of weeks before. The rest was documents for this college courses, downloaded journal articles, which she glanced through quickly before trying to search deeper. Email was connected to the laptop and already open, she felt a surge of excitement as she started looking through the last few days. Spam and a homework reply from a professor from Matt's classics course.

She returned to his desktop, looking through each folder there carefully, finding nothing immediately helpful, until she came to the last one, labelled NG. She tried to open it, and was prompted for a password.

Suspicion welled up as she stared at the request. It was so unlike Matt. He was an easy going, straight talking guy and couldn't imagine what he might deem necessary to password protect, except maybe pure adult content, but even then, it didn't seem like him. She stared at it, and then tried a few common ones, his birthday, his middle name.

Across the room, muffled inside an evidence bag, a phone bleeped. She got up and quickly collected Matt's phone. She knew his passcode, and she gratefully opened it and looked at the newest message.

 _Dear Matt, if this all works, it means you're already gone, and if not, then I suppose you'll reply and we will keep trying. If you are already gone, even though you won't read this, be careful. Love always, Bonnie._

Caroline was already dialling the precinct as she screen shot the message, and forwarded it to herself.

"Detective Forbes, I need a number traced" she instructed, quickly reading out the number, excitement and urgency surging through her veins. She looked through the phone carefully. There were no other messages from this Bonnie, and the number hadn't been saved to the contacts, but the sender hadn't hidden it either. This could mean that Matt had deleted all sign of the sender and their previous conversations from the phone not expecting a final message to be sent. She stared at the message, struggling to understand what it meant. Matt had been going somewhere? Somewhere dangerous, by the sounds of it, and this girl had been helping him somehow. One sure thing was that he hadn't mentioned it to her, despite sending the last few weeks together morning and evening.

She sat back down on the bed, and started leafing through the notepad. The pages were dates, and each contained detailed looking notes. She scanned through. It seemed like more course work, with reference to demons and gods, higher planes and prophecies. She had always admired her little brother for his commitment to such a pure and academic subject, even if she had been surprised how passionate he was about studying Classics and theology at college. She knew he was working on his final project for the subject he wanted to major in, Greek, Roman and Near Eastern Mythology, and by the looks of this stuffed notebook, he was putting in the hours. He had been leaving the apartment everyday the same time as her, more or less, heading to the library, with his backpack. She stopped, eyes flying around the room. His backpack, a faded blue Jan sport bag was missing. He was almost never without that thing, she couldn't believe she had forgotten to look for it. She stood quickly and rifled again through the closet, looking for it tucked in between shoes or clothes in the dresser, behind the door, under the bed, everywhere she could think of. She then went through the rest of the apartment, pausing outside her bedroom door. Taking a deep breath, she gently turned the handle and opened the door. The smell was strong, old blood with a tang of magnesium from the print taking. The blood had already faded to brown, and the room was organised and catalogued. Tyler appeared behind her as she stood frozen in the doorway.

"You should grab some things, enough for a few days, till we are done with the place" She nodded as her eyes trailed over the room. They lingered on the mirror as she noted the finger print dust around, without any sign of prints left over.

"Its clean, seems like" Tyler remarked, follow her eyes and train of thought at once. She looked at the window, unbroken.

"Must have been let in, no sign of forced entry" he said, and she shot him a small smile.

"Stop reading my mind" she said as she gathered an empty bag from the closet and threw in some work stuff, as well as clean underwear, a t-shirt to sleep.

"Sorry, force of habit. You ready to walk it through?" he asked, his hands in his pockets, she noted his stance morph into his usual professional one.

"No forced entry, Matt either knew the person, he let them in, or someone who didn't seem a threat and had a legitimate reason to enter."

"Maybe someone claiming to be connected to me, a friend… someone he thought he could trust" she mused as she walked the hallway, seeing in the fresh light the pattern of blood splatter.

"Right, the start in the kitchen, there was an opened beer, half gone, by the sink. He either put it down before answering the door, or offered a drink that wasn't taken up."

"He wouldn't drink if the other person wasn't" Caroline corrected as she inspected the kitchen.

"Somehow, they move through to the bedroom. That's where most of the incident has occurred, finishing in the hall, where it seems either Matt left at some point, or they left together."

"Matt would never leave a scene like this for me to come home to without an explanation" Caroline said hotly.

"Is that your professional opinion Detective Forbes?" Tyler asked, and she could have hit him for a moment. She gritted her teeth and nodded him to go on.

"There doesn't appear to be much missing, his phone and laptop are here, and intact, as are your computer and tv, etc, so it doesn't seem financially motivated. Personal then, if moneys out, look to the next two, love and drugs."

"Matt would never-" she bit off her words, her cheek heating as she turned to study a photograph on the wall, her and Matt, in black and white at her mother's wedding. They were dancing, laughing together. It was one of her favourite shots of them.

"I don't know if Matt was involved with someone, I found a text on his phone from a woman, her name is Bonnie. Just waiting for the location."

"Ok, good. Now, what about his other things?" Tyler asked and Caroline quickly caught him up on the possessions in Matt's room.

"Anything else missing?"

"No, just the backpack, as far as I know" she said. She fetched the laptop and note pad and set them on the table.

"Research in here for his course, I think, a lot of it. And then there's a password protected file on the laptop"

"So? Lots of people password protect their stuff"

"Not Matt, I'm serious, I am using my professional judgement. It's against established habits and character." She said. Tyler leafed through the notebook, and blew out a breath.

"I'm thinking next stop, library" Tyler said, and Caroline was already swinging on her back, Matt's notebook and laptop stowed safely.  
"You read my mind"

Four hours later, they stopped for lunch. Caroline picked at her sandwich, frustrated and angry, with a yawning sensation of dread inside. They were barely making any progress and Matt had been out there, hurt for hours now.

"Ok, so we know he hasn't been hitting up any of the obvious places, and nowhere nearby."

"We must be looking at it all wrong. Are all libraries equal?" she asked, and watched Tyler shake his head in bemusement.

"There's a question. Come on Forbes, if it's not in Maxim I've probably not read it"

"Ok, well, it must've been some specialist library, somewhere he could research his coursework directly. I'm going to call his college and see if his classics professor recommends anywhere for his students to go."

"Right, and I'll check in on the status of our tracing, prints and any witness statements" Tyler said.

* * *

Half an hour later, they were on the move, driving through a rough part of town, coming closer and closer to the address of one Bonnie Bennet. Caroline wanted to sit on her hands to stop them from fidgeting. They finally pulled up at a ramshackle walk up, and got out the car. A couple of guys were lounging on the corner, and stood up, watching them suspiciously as they got out the car.

"I might hang here, unless you need me" Tyler said, watching the gangbangers out the corner of his eye. Caroline left him there and climbed the creaking stairs. The house had definitely seen better days, the pain was peeling, there was a window taped up with masking tape to cover a hole and rusted lawn chairs in the the front garden. But she saw a flower bow on the window sill, magnolias in full bloom, as well as an impressive array of herbs. Not much money for repairs of upkeep, but someone cared about this place, and the people who lived inside.

She knocked on the door and waited, peering into the dim hall as best she could through a screen door and lacy curtains. After a few minutes or so, it creaked open a couple of inches.

"Yeah?" a voice asked.

"Hello Ma'am, I'm detective Forbes with the NYPD. I've come to ask you a couple of questions, if I could just come inside for a moment, it really won't take long."

"You got a warrant?" the voice asked.

"I don't need a warrant, I'm not arresting you or asking to search your property for anything, I just want to ask you a couple of questions."

"Come back with a warrant." The voice instructed, and the door started to bang shut. Caroline shoved her foot in the gap and winced as the heavy door bounced of her slim boot.

"Please, I'm looking for someone who is missing and is very probably hurt, if I don't find him soon…." She could see a face appearing in the crack, with smooth caramel skin and warm brown eyes. They watched her warily, but she knew that look, she was listening.

"He's my brother" she said, her tone final, and she watched the door inch open a little more.

"You Caroline?" the girl asked. Caroline nodded slowly, and saw with relief that the girl was opening the door and letting her in.

"Thank you." She followed the petite woman through to a colourful living room, full of vibrant scarves and wall hangings, a smell of incense was heavy in the air.

She took the offered seat and could see the person clearly for the first time. Long dark hair, smooth skin and flashing white teeth, the girl was beautiful.

"Are you Bonnie Bennet?" she asked, waiting for her reluctant confirmation.

"Do you know Matt Donovan?" the girl stared at her for a long moment before nodding

"Yes, I know Matt" Truth, Caroline picked up as she pulled a tape recorder out and set it down.

"May I? When did you last speak to or see Matt?" she asked.

"Last week. We were doing some research together. Matt is into the same stuff as me, mythological stuff. We met up to compare notes on a project"

"Can you tell me about the project?"

A pause, and then Bonnie shook her head.

"Did you send a text message to Matt yesterday?"

"Yes, I did. How do you know that? What happened to Matt?" Bonnie asked, her chocolate eyes wide and sad.

"We don't know that at the moment, we are trying to create a picture of his last movements, as well as his state of mind and what he was interested in during the last few weeks."

"I don't know. I just helped him with some boring herbal medicine research. I don't know what else he had going on" Bonnie said, with a steady gaze, though Caroline knew she was lying.

"Really? I find that hard to believe, given the content of your message. You knew Matt was going away somewhere. Can you tell me more about it?" Caroline persisted, watch as Bonnie's eyes swept the room, no doubt looking for some kind of escape.

"I don't know much. He didn't let me in on everything, just pieces, seemed to think it was safer that way. He was a bit paranoid"

"Paranoid about what? Who? Who would care about the sort of research you were doing"

"I don't know" another lie.

"Bonnie, why are you lying to me?" she asked abruptly, knowing it was the best way to get a true answer. Bonnie looked startled for a moment, giving Caroline a hard stare.

"Because, Matt asked me to" she said quietly, and Caroline felt he truth of her statement hit her in the chest.

"Look, I'm sorry, I don't want to upset you-" Bonnie trailed off as an elderly voice shouted her name from upstairs.

"I'll be right back" Bonnie looked around the room anxiously, as she hurried upstairs, clearly not wanting to leave Caroline alone in the room. Caroline stood quickly and went directly to the first place Bonnie had glanced, and old bureau desk, and rifled through the papers on top. She didn't see anything useful, so moved onto the drawers. She pulled out a notepad, just like Matt's, same brand and same store, either purchased at the same time or given to her from him.

Checking the stairs, though she could hear the conversation still going upstairs, she opened the book. It was different from Matt's. More visual, with doodles in the margins and swirling pictures accompanying the recipes for herbal remedies. She flicked through them, tincture for headache, sinus problem, restless legs. She flipped on and on, also scanning the doodles, until she came to one of the final pages. Doodled in the shape of a crescent moon were 2 words;

 _Night Garden_

In spidery script. Above was a herbal drink, but this one had a ritual for drinking it too. It had to be under a full moon, at the stroke of midnight. There were more instructions, but Caroline could hear movement upstairs, so she pulled out her phone. She snapped a picture and prayed it wasn't too blurry as she shoved the notebook back, even as Bonnie's feet were appearing on the stairs. She turned as the girl entered the room, causally putting distance between herself and the desk.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's my grandmother, she's not well" Bonnie said, her shoulders seemed more tense and higher to her ears that ever as she crossed her arms, giving out clear body language.

"Well, I am sorry to interrupt. What were you doing last night?" Caroline asked as she walked toward the door.

"I was here, with Grams. You can ask her" Bonnie said.

"Not necessary just now. How well did you know Matt?"

"Well enough"

"I see, and how did you meet?"

"Online." Bonnie said flatly.

They stood and stared at each other for a long moment, before Caroline decided to make a move.

"I suppose I better leave you to get on. Just a last thing. What's the Night Garden?" Caroline could feel the chill seep into the air at her words, and almost shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. Bonnie looked panicked for a moment and then gave a studied shrug.

"Don't know." She lied.

"I see. Is it a place in the city? Do you think that was where Matt was planning on going to?"

"I don't know, I don't know, stop asking me these questions!" the girl suddenly shouted.

"Then stop lying to me!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are, I know you are! My brother is missing! And if you cared at all about him, and since you knew him, and I read your message I find it hard to believe you don't, then you should be helping me" Caroline shouted back, her voice fading into the ringing silence left behind. Bonnie stared at her, colour draining from her face as tears gathered in her eyes.

"He's hurt isn't he. This whole thing, it just attracted their attention, and now it's too late, they've seen him" Caroline got the impression that there was a significance to the word seen, in the way Bonnie spoke.

"Please, I don't know what you're talking about, all of this is strange and new for me, but I want to find my brother, I have to, so please, explain it to me" Caroline beseeched, as she sat down again and waited for Bonnie to sit too.

"I don't know much, barely anything. Matt wanted to keep it that way, he thought it was dangerous" she let out a bitter laugh.

"I guess he was right."

"What was dangerous, who was he looking for?"

"Not who, where" Bonnie corrected, her eyes darting back and forth as she wrung her hands.

"Ok, where?" Bonnie hesitated a long moment. Caroline reached out with her mind and gently sensed the woman's fears.

"I won't think you're crazy, anything you have to tell me, I am ready to hear it, I just want to know."

"You know Matt is interested in classics. Well, he got into some high profile class, and became close to the teacher, this guy, I think his name is Saltzman. Well, they started working on a project together, researching more obscure stuff, about the occult of the ancient world, demonic history, spiritual dimensions, really off syllabus" Bonnie said. Caroline wrote down the name and nodded for the girl to continue.

"I met him on a board about occult practices. I'm not a witch, I mean, of course I'm not, but I don't think I am. I'm just interested in paganism, and old herbal remedies. My grandmother was too, so she kind of got me into it. I met Matt on there, he was looking for a mixture with certain properties. He believed that he needed the mixture, and he had to take it at the right time, as they did in the past, if they wanted to reach…" she fell silent again, and Caroline felt the familiar sensation of fear creeping over her skin.

"Reach where?" she almost whispered.

"The Night Garden" Bonnie answered, her face pale and drawn now.

"What's the Night Garden."

"It's a place. I don't know if it's real. When I first met Matt, I thought for sure it wasn't, and then, he was so cute and fun, we hung out a lot, and I started to think maybe there was something, but I never understood it or believed it like Matt and that professor, Saltzman did." Bonnie said.

"Why would this place be dangerous?" Caroline asked, trying to zone in on one line of questioning when there were thousands flying through her mind.

"I don't know, just Matt was sure it was. Not the place, I guess, but the… things, that live there. He was afraid of them, as well as intrigued by them. My grandmother is old school, and maybe, back in the day, she might have thought of herself as a witch, maybe. She used to say that you never look too hard at an accident, or stare at death too closely, because you never know what is staring back… and they might see you, and once they've seen you… they don't look away until you're theirs."


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline left the house unsettled, and with more questions than answers, however she did have one firm lead, and that would take them over to the college campus.

Tyler was sitting in the car with the window down, listening to a sports game on the radio. She sat heavily on the seat, her fitted jeans suffocating her legs, and her gun holster uncomfortably tight. She felt boxed in, like everything was tightening around her and time was running out. She shifted in the seat and directed the ac fan toward her face.

"Didn't want to come in half way through and disrupt your mojo" he said as she lifted her heavy blonde curls from her neck. Caroline quickly filled him in on what Bonnie had told her. He stared at her, gave a low whistled as he frowned.

"Man, that's pretty weird stuff. And you didn't know any of this was going on?" he asked, and held his hands up defensively at her look.

"Sorry, I'm not blaming you, course not, it's not something you'd be looking out for. It's just strange he's been putting all this work in, basically obsessing about all this weird shit, and you've seen nothing to do with it at home."

"I did see an email from a professor about his homework, an extension of the due date. Maybe it was a code of some sort? I don't remember the sender, if it was this Saltzman guy. There's also the protected file on his lap top. The notebook, I dismissed as coursework, but maybe it isn't, though I don't know nearly enough about the subject to know what's to do with school and what's to do with this… hobby" she said as they headed back into town, moving slowly through the midday traffic.

"We need to get an expert opinion on that, and get into that protected file."

"Agreed" Caroline looked out the window, casting her mind back to the previous night, from the hold up on the subway and how she had gotten spooked in the tunnel. That whisper of her name, too faint to be sure she'd heard it, too loud to be certain she hadn't. What had been happening then, at that moment. Had Matt been being attacked then? Had he been reaching out to her? And what about the strange presence she had felt in her apartment, the thick, viscous dark, that seems to surround her, blotting out the light. In the stress of the situation, she had pushed it to the back of her mind as paranoia and anxiety. Now however, in light of the information from Bonnie, she was beginning to doubt herself. It as a crazy thought, but what if it had been more real than she'd allowed at the time?

The thought dogged her, and she once again tried to push it down and concentrate on the moment, listening as Tyler went through the crime scene evidence that they'd collated so far, and the results that had come in. Fingerprints were a bust, only hers, Matt's and Tyler's, no doubt from Sunday afternoon, when he'd come over to watch the ball game with Matt. The mirror had been scratched with something super sharp, like a scalpel, but there was the faintest resin residue, almost like a nail, a fact that made Caroline feel ill at the image it conjured. There was an unknown substance in the hallway, outside the door, mixed with glass, which was still being tested, but seemed to be at least one part Angelic acid. Nothing had pinged on Matt, no card usage and he hadn't attempted to log into his email from anywhere.

As they drove, Caroline called Matt's college and requested to speak to Professor Saltzman, only to be told he was on leave, and wasn't expected back for 2 more weeks.

Changing direction, they headed for his house.

It was a small bungalow in New Jersey, set back from the road and ringed by dense trees, there didn't seem that there was anyone home, as they pulled onto the empty driveway and watched the dormant house. It felt empty, and the pile of newspapers on the mat only confirmed it.

"Where now? Try and get a warrant?"

"On what grounds? I've got to look more into the emails between them, if I can find him arranging an out of hours meeting maybe" Caroline said, feeling frustration press down on her. Every minute counted and they were wasting infinite amounts of them, driving around chasing their tails.

"Let me have a look at the notebook" Tyler said, pulling on gloves again, and pushing his seat back. He started to turn the pages, and this time Caroline noticed more words jumping out at her from the dense scribbling, demonic possession, godly vessel, pilgrimage, sacrifice. The words, in the context for his course weren't alarming, however after the conversation with Bonnie Bennet, they had taken an altogether too real feel.

"Wait, where do I know that number from?" Tyler said, as his finger traced a cell number jotted in a margin.

"I didn't see that before" Caroline chastised herself as she typed it into her phone.

"Its disconnected" she said, even as she frowned at it. Reaching back into her bag she pulled out her notes from other cases. She stared at the name the number accompanied in her own writing.

"What is it?"

"It's Divine Jones's cell"

"The Divine Jones whose been missing for 2 weeks?"

"The very same" Caroline said, as her intuition and gift clashed together in her mind. The world before her eyes went white for a moment, and all sound faded away. She could hear the cell phone ringing in her mind.

"Matt called Divine Jones, they met up" she muttered, feeling the truth tugging her along behind.

"Maybe. Any theories as to why?" Caroline grasped for more of the feelings surrounding the discovery of the number, trying to grasp a tendril more of the past, tug in out for inspection, trying to fit another puzzle piece in place, but there was nothing.

She shook her head, dejected at another piece she didn't understand.

"Well, we might need to consider the two disappearances connected. I'll go back over the report, and see if there are any crime scene similarities" Tyler was saying as he reversed out the Saltzman's driveway and rejoined the road. Caroline watched the suburbs become the city mile by mile, and found herself searching every face they passed for her brother. She felt a tear slip from the corner of her eye. She could feel that just behind there was an avalanche of tears, a whole river of fear and pain, but she was doing everything to hold it back, shore up the damn she'd slammed into place when she'd walked into her apartment. She'd had a lot of practice, withholding her emotions, putting on a brave face.

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In the afternoon, after agreeing with Tyler that he'd head back to the station and see what he could chase up connecting Divine Jones and Matt, Caroline went back to list of all the public libraries Matt might have been doing his research at, and decided to tackle them again on foot. There weren't any records of Matt checking anything out, that they'd found so far, but maybe there'd be a shift change and someone would recognise him. She mapped out the libraries, starting with the area with the highest concentration and spiralled out. Three hours down, sweat dripping freely off the end of her nose, her hair long since tamed violently into a bun atop her head to let the sorry excuse summer called a breeze reach her neck, she sat at the bottom of a set of wide stairs outside NY public library. She watched tourists attempt to climb up the lions framing the stairs and get chased away by security as she glugged down some water. Another dead end. She felt the urge to go and get something a little stronger. A dark little dive bar where nobody knew her name, and she could let herself feel for a minute or two. She wallowed in that idea of a moment, so immersed she almost missed the girl standing uncertainly at her elbow. She glanced up, shading her eyes from the lowering sun.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked, recognising her as one of the cataloguing assistants from inside. Her antennae were already buzzing as she watched the girl fidgeting on the steps, looking anxiously behind her.

"You work in the library, right?" Caroline prompted using her best non-threating, we're all girls here tone. The girl nodded, one of her long braids falling over her shoulder, revealing a glint of hammered silver earrings, moons, Caroline could just make out.

"Did you know something that might help us to find the young man in the picture" she tried to keep the frustration with the girls reticence out her tone and practically pasted on her smile.

"Matt didn't come here. Well, I mean he did to begin with, before he found a better place." She said, her be ringed hand twisting the long black material of her skirt.

"Do you happen to know where that might be?" Caroline asked, suddenly taking in how striking the girl was. Long dark hair hung down almost to her hair, and cat like eyes gazed at her, a lustrous hazel. She was dressed in a scarlet corset over a long black silk dress, and although Caroline was no expert, she believed she could broadly term the clothes as gothic looking, or perhaps steam punk, she wasn't clear on the differences, something which made her feel especially old. The girl bit her lip, uncertain for a moment, before nodding slowly.

Caroline stood, reaching for her phone to write down the address.

"No" the girl said, reaching her slender hand out and stopping her, her light touch cool on Caroline burning forearm.

"I'll take you there, Detective Forbes."

"Call me Caroline" she said absently as she quickly weighed the pros and cons of taking a civilian along. The girl flashed her a wide smile, lacking the hesitation and reluctance of before.

"Ok, Caroline… I'm Katherine, but you can call me Kat."

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The Uber dropped them on 46 East 70th Street speeding away into traffic as soon as Caroline had let the door shut. Stepping onto the curb she looked around with a frown, wondering where Katherine had brought her, seeing nothing vaguely like a library nearby. The tall Upper East Side buildings stretched on either side of them, and as the sun had already began its decent over the city, long shadows wreathed the affluent sidewalks beside them.

"It's this way" Katherine said, turning and starting toward a stately looking brownstone. Caroline followed slowly behind. As they approached she saw a plaque beside the door.

Explorers Club

 _Est 1904_

She looked in askance as Katherine spoke into the small speaker that had crackled, and suddenly the heavy wooden door was opening.

"It's a little late for visitors, but I know a guy" she said, smiling mysteriously as she pushed open the door and ushered Caroline in before her. A magnificent entry hall greeted them, high marbled arches and stained glass windows, to the rear, a huge sweeping stair case in front. As soon as Her foot crossed the threshold, Caroline as though she had been doused in cold water. Katherine didn't seem to notice a sudden change in air temperature, walking confidently on. Caorline felt almost as though her skin was prickling under her clothes, as though her hair was standing on end.

"Evening" A security guard called from the side, and the two made their way there, with Caroline showing her badge and explaining the purpose of their visit.

"I'll just get you some visitors passes for the library."

"I had no idea there was one here" Caroline remarked.

"Little known fact in NYC, it's pretty impressive actually, if you're into exploration and the like" the man said as he jotted down her badge info and filled out lanyards for them.

"Kat here is no stranger herself" he said.

"Well, I am a geography major" the girl beside her said, and Caroline followed the two of them on up the stairs in onto the next floor. It was richly carpeted, the thick plush fabric muffling their steps as the security guard led them down an archway to the right, to a set of glass doors where he entered a key and then opened them.

"Is this library not open to the public?" Caroline asked.

"It's after hours" he explained as he waved them through.

"Let me know if you need anything." The man said, as he was about to leave. Caroline suddenly remembered the photo in her pocket and pulled it out.

"Wait, do you recognise this man?" she asked as she held the photograph out.

"We see a lot of people" the man was saying as he took it. She could feel the same spine tingling presence she had felt when she had set foot inside this place, like she was being watched, like tiny slivers of air were rearranging themselves around her to tickle her skin into goose bumps. She struggled to concentrate on his reaction. He glanced at it, and Caroline was about to look away, when she saw it. As he looked back up to her, he was already shaking his head.

"No, sorry, like I said, we see a lot of people" But Caroline had seen, just before he'd met her eyes, his gaze sliding to the girl behind her, one who had been strangely quiet for a while. She turned and looked at Katherine, still trying to get a read on her new informant. The dark eyed stranger watched her in silence, before gesturing to the open door in front of them.

"Shall we? I can show you where he used to study" she said as they entered the main room of the library, the security guard gone but not forgotten.

Caroline looked around the dimly lit room, taking in the plush armchairs and sofas for reading, small tables with reading lamps were spaced periodically through the room to allow people to sit and study the books. One wall was lined with travel artefacts, from old maps behind glass to taxidermy animals, and displays of bones and butterflies. In the middle of the room, the stacks began, and she could see they went back for as far as she could see. They walked slowly down the rows, and she shivered with a sudden deepening cold, like a draft in a frozen tundra. She glanced in the direction of the draft, feeling as though it were coming from behind the last row, wondering if there was a door open. She realised Katherine had stopped walking. She turned back and found the girl studying her a little, her back leaning on a row of books behind her. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her gaze was speculative, shrewd almost. Caroline realised the shy and uncertain catalogue assistant from the library seemed to have disappeared.

"You're not like he described you…" she said, even her voice sounded more striking and forceful. Caroline stood warily in front of her, her hand ready to reach for her weapon if need be. What the hell kind of situation had she gotten herself into here, she wondered wildly for a moment, not a flicker of alarm showing on her face. Tyler would be furious, she was letting her personal drive to find Matt cloud her professional instincts and protocol.

"Who, Matt?" she asked steadily. Katherine smiled at that, and almost seemed to shake her head before replying innocently.

"Who else? You know, we spent some fun evenings in here, researching… quite the looker, your brother was" Caroline felt her blood turn to ice at her casual slip of the tongue, and the way Katherine covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide, mocking.

"Oop! I misspoke…" she said, before finishing sweetly.

"He was your _step_ brother, wasn't he." The cold wind seemed to blow harder to Caroline's back as she tried to ignore it, and focus on the unpredictable girl before her, who had seemed to notice her shiver.

"You can feel it, can't you?"

"Feel what?" Katherine watched her closely.

"The call of home… don't you want to go back? Don't you dream of it… of him…" she whispered, a maniacal gleam blossoming in her eye as she leant closer to Caroline. Caroline shook her head in confusion.

"I have no idea what you're talking about but you're going to want to back up right now, I am armed." Katherine held her gaze a little longer, before looking away, almost disappointed.

"You really don't know anything, do you? Like a child" she muttered as she turned towards the doors.

"Wait, where are you going?" Caroline called, her heart still pounding from the strangely intense confrontation.

"Katherine?" she called, her pulse beating wildly as she listened for a sound of the other woman, but only silence greeted her. She stepped forward, searching the rows, her legs gradually easing off the frozen feeling that had come over her in the back row of stacks.

She couldn't find any sign of Katherine, and guessed she must have left. Caroline cursed her clumsy and amateur handling of this whole afternoon. She didn't have so much as a contact number for the girl, and would be forced to trek back to the library to find out how to contact her, if she even worked there, she thought grimly as she turned around and started toward the doors. As she neared, she stopped, suddenly feeling the lack of cold at her back. She turned back around and started back toward the end of the stacks, wanting to check if there had been a door open, perhaps Katherine had left that way.

Towards the back it was darker, and the sky lights showing slashed of night sky were turning an indigo blue as the last of the light seeped out, and pale stars twinkled through. She was a wall with several doors, some of which were marked as bathrooms and such like. One, right at the end was unmarked. She walked toward it, seeing the differences in its design. The other doors were all similar, while this door looked older, perhaps the only one not included in a remodel, she thought as she reached it. It was dark, maybe iron or some kind of metal, and intricate. Maybe it was even a travel relic itself, Caroline thought as she approached and put her hand on the surface, flinching as the sudden, shocking cold of it travelled up her arm. Her vision blurred as images flooded her.

Matt. He had been here, Katherine hadn't been lying. She saw him walking the stacks, his backpack over his shoulder. There was someone at his elbow talking, someone she couldn't see.

"Expeditions have been planned and abandoned over time, no one dared risk it."

"Why's that?"

"Because in over 100 years, and countless expeditions, no one ever came back. They weren't equipped to handle the creatures that live in the Night Garden, they couldn't understand what they were. They went there armed with scriptures and crosses, vials of holy water. I can only imagine how the immortal ones laughed at their pitiful attempts to protect themselves"

She shook as the images faded, and she reluctantly let Matt's voice fade from her mind. Looking don, she found her hand had reached for the handle of the door, and was almost turning it. The pull to open it was strong, and Caroline was about to satisfy her curiosity when her phone beeped. She glanced at her phone, seeing that Tyler had called, then left a message, saying there was something he wanted her to see. Her heartbeat picking up, a surge of adrenaline shrugging off the strange languid sense she'd had since she'd entered the Explorers Club, she decided to come back tomorrow with him, get a proper search warrant and see what they could find out. They had a place to start, and that was something.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, as she sat cross legged on Tyler's spare bed, she opened up Matt's laptop again. This time she went to the emails and started a closer inspection. There was seemingly ordinary correspondence between friends, a couple of classmates, and some from professors. None from Professor Saltzman though, which in itself was strange, if Bonnie Bennet was right about how close they were.

She went to the locked folder and typed in a few different passwords. She tried her own name, her mom's, both birthdays. Nothing.

The screen blurred a little, and she dashed a hand under her eyes, finding tears dripping down her cheeks, unnoticed. She took a deep breath, tried anyway, and felt her throat close up. The fear and anxiety of the last 24 hours suddenly threatened to overwhelm her. She'd worked hard to develop a professional persona around her colleagues, unshakable and cool under pressure. Someone who could keep it all together, and keep a smile on her face at the same time. But now Matt was missing and there was a whole part of his life he had hidden from her. Burying her head in the pillows, she let her grief show and let it swallow her whole. She reached out for him, for a glimpse, even though it rarely worked that way, a thread of a future he was bound to have. Nothing. The darkness closed in, and how long she lay there, tears tracing a puddle on the pillow beneath her head, she had no idea but she finally drifted into an exhausted slumber.

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The dream started slowly, where she was walking a dark corridor, turning down dark hallways, but she felt calm, she was not lost. She turned into a room and saw Jones, wearing a colourful kaftan and clinking jewellery. He was standing at the mirror, and the room around him was dark, moonlight flooding in the curtainless window beside him. There was a strange hiss, and a rattle, almost like a snake. It rose and fell, changed tone at times, and she realised, with no little horror, the noise was coming from Jones' mouth, as he seemed to hold a conversation with the mirror. In her dreamlike state, she drifted closer, though Divine did not turn, she reached his shoulder and saw in the mirror a room reflected unlike any she'd ever seen. It seemed to have been carved from stone, it was dark and cavernous, with flaming torches encased in silver cages providing light. Jet columns with intricate carvings roses from the ground up, ascending meters upon meters, until they brushed the sky above, no ceiling that she could see, only a velvet night without stars and two strange moons shone through. One red as blood, the other a cold silver crescent.

As she stepped back, she realised the hissing had stopped, and looked up to see Divine watching her, his eyes had gone completely white, as though the iris had slipped up out of sight.

"He's coming for you, little one. Better run" he whispered, before crying out, seemingly in pain. She saw the image in the mirror change as a dark figure had entered the cavern. A man, wreathed in shadows. He walked toward them. She turned from the scene, her heart in her mouth and started to run from the room. She came awake with a start, a scream on her lips, dying into the silence of her room at Tyler's, the instant normality grounding her.

It was quiet with only the far of sound of traffic outside to break to heavy silence. It was dark, very dark, and as she lay in bed, her hands locked around her knees, still in her clothes from earlier, her cheeks felt crusted with salt. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart.

 _"Caroline"_ she heard the voice, becoming familiar to her now, as it called to her, from a great distance as it always seemed.

"Who's there?" she whispered, fighting the urge to jump up and turn the lights on. She felt a prickling sensation run down her bare arm, and saw the darkness, once again thick like velvet brush past her, darker than the surrounding blackness.

"A friend" the voice teased, and she followed the black miasma as it swirled in the centre of the room.

"This can't be happening" she muttered.

"On the contrary, it most definitely is" the voice spoke softly, a hint of a smile in its tone.

"Where's my brother?" she asked, pushing herself up to a sitting position. The mist swirled around her before settling back into the middle of the room.

"I don't know exactly" truth, her senses told her.

"We parted ways, a little after arriving home." It was telling her the truth.

"Is he ok?"

"Define ok"

"Is he still alive"

"I believe so" it answered and she felt relief sink through her. She jumped as she felt a tendril of the darkness reach out and touch her arm.

"So soft, and so warm… I've never felt anything like it"

"You aren't warm?"

"Dead things seldom are" the voice replied, the voice fading for a moment before returning. She found she could feel when the strange presence was absent and when it returned.

"He doesn't like me touching you. He never could share his toys, even as a child. So worried others would break them, which or course, I always did"

"Who?" Caroline asked, her head spinning from the conversation and the surreal sensation of talking to nothing. She had probably lost her mind, and was at this very moment strapped down on a gurney with a needle in her veins, locked away in some sterilised psychiatric facility up north.

"All in good time. We were talking about Matthew"

"Can you bring him back?"

"That would defeat the purpose of taking him in the first place my dear" the voice said with a cruel laugh.

"I do have a proposition for you however" the voice declared suddenly.

"What?"

"A trade" it announced, and Caroline felt a familiar foreboding sensation.

"Go on" she said softly. The black air swirled around once more and then seemed to settle, drifting a little closer to her.

"One for another, a life for a life. Him for you" the voice said, silky and dangerous in its intensity. She pushed herself back into the padded headboard as the black mist surrounded her face. She felt it brushing against her nose, pushing against her lips, she turned her head from side to side to escape it, before jumping up and backing away from the bed, her hands clearing the air around her.

"He won't be so patient forever" the voice warned.

"Who?" the voice stayed silent, and she fisted her hands, frustration overriding her fear as she put her hands on her hips.

"I'm not going anywhere with you before you explain what the hell is going on"

"So fiery, he'll like that… try to keep it, as long as you can, before he breaks you" the voice whispered, suddenly sounding more menacing.

"Who?" she demanded hotly.

"Who, who, he, him, ha ha" the voice broke off in manic giggles, and Caroline strode toward the door. She felt the black mist swish past her as she went, and stopped short as she saw it swirling around the door handle.

"I do apologise, I don't socialise much, it quite goes to one's head. He is Niklaus, Prince of the Night Garden, Lord of the dark" the voice recited these titles as though it were announcing someone's arrival at a ball. Caroline thought for a moment, and then raised her hands to her head, massaging her temples.

"This is mad. I am going crazy, I am talking to myself and imagining things"

"On the contrary, this is the most yourself you've been in years" the voice mocked. Dropping her hands in frustration she glared at the darkness.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why do you have to speak in riddles? This is madness" she said, sinking onto the edge of the bed.

"It's quite simple my dear, if you want to save your brother, I am offering you a way. No need to over think it." The mist had settled around her shoulders, though it was in no way warming or comforting.

"What would I have to do?" she asked in a whisper, fear and desperation warring in her. She could practically feel the excited charge run though the strange energy in the room with her.

"Not much at all darling. Simply go to the place where he is, and he will be able to leave, the trade will be complete."

"If I knew where he was I would have already found him"

"But you do know, the witch Bennet told you."

"The Night Garden" Caroline stated cynically.

"Yes, The Night Garden… it's waiting for you…. As is he" Caroline shivered at the softly spoken words.

"This… Niklaus. Who is he? What does he want?" there was a pause as the black swirling mass contemplated.

"I believe he would prefer to speak to you about all that in person."

Caroline felt her head shaking in response as she stared numbly at the wall, at the slates of light bending across it as a car passed by outside.

"Do not be afraid, sweet sister" the voice whispered in her ear, so quietly she could barely hear it. She felt a new tear run down her cheek and drop onto the pillow. She was afraid, afraid that she had begun a descent into madness that nothing could halt. She had long feared her powers had all been in her head, even when they helped her to solve crimes, and had proved themselves to be genuine. Next, the worry had developed that since her mind was already compromised, what would come next? Her sanity? How long before she became some lost soul wandering the halls of an asylum, stuck in her internal world. Had it started? And if it had, where was Mat really?

But under that fear, that paranoia so closely linked to the growing insecurities she'd harboured since she was a teenager and her powers had first manifested, was another, all too chilling prospect.

What if it was real?

"I don't know how to get there. Would you take me?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot, you must make the journey yourself… but you do know, you have been to the threshold."

"The door in the Explorers club, of course. And I suppose Katherine won't actually be an assistant at the library and really quite difficult to locate as well." She said bitterly, as she went over how she had been led to this path so obviously.

She sat for a long while, thinking about how she'd come to this point, of having to accept something so utterly unbelievable, or the alternative, that she'd lost her mind. Neither were particularly appealing.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

"Car, are you up? I heard your voice" Tyler's voice came to her through the door and she stood up to open it.

"I wouldn't do that, Klaus hates to share" the black mist whispered around her head as she shook free of it and opened the door. Tyler stood in the hall, his bare chest painted in moonlight and shadows, his dark hair tousled as though he had just rushed from sleep, his deep eyes concerned as they swept over her.

"Caroline, you've been crying" he said, his arms going up in shock as she stepped into his embrace, burying her head on his shoulder and letting the tears streak over the smooth, taut skin of his shoulder.

"Hey, shh, you're alright, I've got you" he said, gently manoeuvring her back until they reached the edge of the bed.

"Did something happen? I heard talking" he murmured into her hair.

"Did you hear anyone else?" she asked in a tear strained voice, caused Tyler to tense and look quickly around the room.

"No, why? Was someone here? Are you alright?" her asked, pulling away to look down into her large liquid eyes. She shook her head, biting her lip to stop the flow of tears.

"No, I guess not… just me. Just crazy old me" she said with a ragged laugh.

"What are you talking about? Caroline, you're sort of worrying me here. I think you're too close to all of this, I'm surprised the Captain even let you stay on in the first place. You need to rest and take your mind of it, and let the rest of us find Matt."

"You won't find him" she said with certainty. She knew that to be the truth. Only she would find him, her gift told her as much. She shifted to look up at Tyler then, suddenly aware of how little separated them, as her hand rested on the hard muscle of his thigh, his arm strung loosely around her hip as she sat close to him. His eyes roamed over her face, taking in details. Suddenly, she wanted to be closer to him, immerse herself in this living breathing person who was her friend, who was real. She reached up and slowly placed a kiss on his lips. He was startled, she could tell, but recovered quickly, kissing her back gently before pulling away.

"Car, I hate myself for saying this, but we can't. God knows I've wanted to since I first met you, but you're upset, you're not thinking clearly." He said, and while the rational part of her mind knew that it was true, and he was doing the right thing, another part, some deep primitive part that wanted to rebel against this unwanted destiny that was being thrust upon her pushed her to capture his lips again, brought her hands up to the back of his neck and pulled him in.

Before Tyler even had a chance to respond, there was a small scraping noise, and then, a loud explosion, as the glass of the window across the room broke with a loud shatter, shimmering shards flying in all directions. They both jumped up in surprise, and looked at the jagged black hole that had been torn through the glass, the cool of the night and street noises oozing in.

"Shit! What the hell just happened" Tyler cursed as he headed toward the door, stepping gingerly over bits of glass.

"Don't move, I'll clean it up" he called over his shoulder as he left the room. Caroline stood in the darkness looking at the broken window and felt fear snake up her spine. Who or what could have punched a hole through a window of a 10th floor condo she didn't know, but she realised with a sinking feeling, that she was soon going to find out.


	5. Chapter 5

Morning found Tyler pouring her a cup of coffee as she emerged from her room, grim faced and puffy eyed.

"Here, you look like you need this" he murmured passing her the warm cup. She took a grateful sip before meeting his eyes.

"How are you feeling today Forbes?" he asked, and she nodded absently.

"Better. More resigned I suppose"

"Resigned to what?"

"To… doing anything I can to find Matt, even if it doesn't seem to make sense to me" she said.

"Like, staying out the way while the rest of us find him? Well, I agree with that, but I know it's a tough pill to swallow. Just imagine if the situation were reversed and I was the one with the missing sibling. Would you be ok with me running around outside, while I was hurting like you are" Tyler said as he walked around the counter to her side, and leaned back against the hard countertop next to her, his shoulder bumping hers.

"You know I'm right" he said, bumping her again, deliberately. She took a deep breath and turned her smile to him.

"Yeah, you're right. You know best" she said, laughing at his emphatic nod.

"Yes, you see, I've been saying it for years, and I can see I'm finally making progress" he laughed, and then studied his coffee, a little too casually. She could tell he wanted to talk about the night before, deciding to quickly cut off any awkwardness.

"Look, about last night-" she said as she made to pass him and gather her bag. He caught her hand as she passed and pulled her close.

"That's the other thing I should have told you about for a long time." He started and she looked up at him, so close at that moment.

"You don't have to say anything"

"Yes, damn it I do. I have wanted more with you for far too long, I have to say something, I can't not. I care about you Caroline, more than just a partner cares about another. You're my girl." He said, his voice huskier, lower than normal and then soothing timber suddenly transported her.

This feeling was totally unlike her usual powers. Usually, she could see a future glimpse, maybe an image connected to a past event that proved if someone was telling the truth now or not, usually it was nothing like this.

The vision descended over her like someone had dropped a white silk hood over her head from behind. She was standing before a floor length window, looking out over a waterfall cascading into a lake, surrounded by black cliffs of iridescent rock, studded with sparkling gemstones. The smell of night jasmine wafted past the terrace she stood on, and around her, a hundred candles lit the features of the man standing across from her. He was familiar and strange all at once. She felt as though she had never seen him before, and yet, she felt perfectly acquainted with each one of his features, as though they were her own. She could see the way his tawny eyelashes framed his blue eyes, the candle light reflected in them, as it gleamed off his burnished golden hair. He wore black, a velvet so dark it seemed to absorb the light around him, a fitted surcoat, cut broadly at his wide shoulders and tight at his narrow hip, with long black trousers, close to his strong legs.

"You are, aren't you?" his low voice seemed to caress the words, confident and sure, and yet, she was sure she heard in them a question, a vulnerability so hidden, she doubted she had heard it at all.

"What?" she watched him walk to the window and stare out, his hand gripping a golden chalice of some dark liquid as he stared at the rushing water, a ruby ring encased in some fierce looking setting catching the light of a firefly that buzzed passed.

"Mine" she looked down at her own self, seeing her own body encased in a silver coloured gown, light as butterfly wings, floating around her ankles, and her hair, loose and unbound rippling over her shoulder, and on her hand, the flash of a red stone catching the light of the two moons overhead.

"Caroline? You're looking a little spaced out again, maybe you should go back to bed" Tyler was saying, his hands were on her shoulders as the pictures in her head slid away, leaving her more confused than before.

'What?" she asked, trying to get her bearings.

"I said you rest up, tonight we can regroup and if you'd allow me, I'd like to take you to a non-expensed dinner" he said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Ok" she muttered, summoning a smile for him, mentally urging him to leave so she could go over her vision. Ten minutes later, her smile becoming increasingly strained, he finally left. She grabbed her coffee mug and sat down heavily on the couch. Where had that come from, she wondered wildly. It had been terrifying in its detail, as though she was there. Was this her future if she went to this Night Garden, even thinking it, she heard her own doubt. She grabbed her photocopy of Matt's notebook and leafed through the pages, trying to make sense of something.

He had written about the Night Garden as though it were a real place, she thought, as she looked at detailed notes on the geographical layout, as he'd found in reports sent back by explorers. There seemed to be small settled areas in amongst mountains and other difficult terrain, and in the middle, a castle, where the reigning family lived. There was a photocopy pf an old looking piece of manuscript with what looked like their names in the shape of a family tree, written in some difficult to read language, certainly one with different characters than any she'd seen before. Matt had attempted to translate some of them, how, she had no idea. But now, she had actually heard one of the names, and now she scanned through his various translation efforts.

Most were unpronounceable, but one stood out.

Niklaus

Her eyes landed on the name and softly spoke her sentence aloud to test its truth.

"Niklaus is the name of the man with the ruby ring" she said, and knew she was right. Goosebumps popped up along her arms at this tangible evidence, a link between her so-called hallucination and a notebook her own brother had written weeks ago.

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She changed out her work clothes and decided to do something usual with her day. She would go by the library and check on Katherine, is that had been her name. She would see if Tyler was free to drop by the Explorer's Club with the warrant so she could see what material Matt had checked out.

As she stood in front of her wardrobe, she quickly surveyed her clothes, and bag options. Another stop on the list…. Shopping for the most bizarre trip she could imagine. It didn't mean she was going anywhere, or that she believed any of this craziness, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared.

She left the library a little after 10, and headed to get another jolt of caffeine. There had been an assistant named Katherine, that much was true, but she was an older blonde lady who only came in on a Sunday to help out. The fact that nobody had questioned the Katherine Caroline had met on her credentials for being there was a little strange, but she got the impression there was a lot of different grad students working on irregular hour contracts, so maybe it was understandable.

Next stop was shopping, killing time until Tyler could meet her at the Explorer's Club. She went to an outdoor store first, and got a few things, including a tent and slim line sleeping bag, and a small flashlight that would clip to her belt. As an impulse she added a small knife that would tuck into her boot at the cash register. The cashier didn't bat an eye as he sold it to her, which was disturbing in itself.

She went next to a sporting goods store. She was looking for clothes that were tough and durable, but slim enough not to be a hindrance. She left with a bag of clothes that had cost about the same as her rent, and hurried to East 47th to meet Tyler.

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There was a different security guard on duty when they arrived, and he did recognise Matt from his picture. He said he had started coming about a month before, and suddenly stopped, just this week. The reason the security guard recognised him was that he had once found him in the library after hours, though Matt had apologised and explained he had gotten caught up in his research, the incident had stuck with him.

They headed up to the library floor, and Caroline saw the doors were now open, and there were other people doing causal research at some of the tables inside the light flooded room.

"Apparently no one is allowed to actually check books out of here, so there isn't a record of what your brother had been reading." Tyler was saying as he followed Caroline toward the back of the stacks. She felt curiosity pulling her to look at the metal door again, get Tyler's take on it. Maybe it would be unlocked and she could resign herself to her impending insanity. They reached the back row and walked slowly down it. Caroline could feel the blood pounding in her ears as she counted the identical doors on the wall.

It was gone, the smooth and unblemished wall mocking her as she stared at it, at a loss for words.

"Car, what's up?" Tyler asked as she came to stop in front of where it had once stood.

"Do you see something there?" she asked, her voice small as her eyes struggled to accept what they were seeing.

"Such as?" Tyler said, before taking out his phone to answer a call. Caroline remained where she was, reluctant to leave and accept that she had imagined a door, or that it was only visible to her. Seeing Tyler gesture from the door, she turned away, tearing her eyes from that empty white space and went to meet him. As she went, she swore she could almost feel a brush of cool air on the back of her neck, light as an angels kiss.

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That evening she called her mom. As Tyler watched the game, his case files spread out before him on the table, she took her mobile into her room and dialled her mother's number slowly.

"Car? Hello sweetheart, how are things?" Liz Forbes' familiar tone almost stole her breath as she suddenly found it hard to swallow. Forcing the lump down her throat she managed to find her voice.

"Fine, and you?"

"Oh, you know, the usual, nothing much happens in Mystic Falls"

"For someone who lives in New York, that's a good thing."

"Well, you could always come home? Work here in the police department"

"I'm not sure I could take the excitement of investigating Mrs Hamilton's missing ladder daily" Caroline said with a sigh, relaxing a little as her mom started catching her up on all the news in her home town.

"Now, while I love to hear from you, I know finding out who won Miss Mystic Falls this year is not the reason you called." Her mom said, jolting her out her pleasant trance of humdrum normality.

"No, it's not… Though I don't know how April Young thinks she can ever fill my shoes" Caroline laughed as she forced her voice to be casual.

"Actually, I was just ringing to tell you I'm going to be going on vacation. I need a break from all this big city excitement."

"It's about time! Where are you off to? Just my luck that both my children desert me for exotic locales at once. And speaking of your brother, he hasn't called me once since he left for Europe to say how he's getting on" Liz was saying as Caroline sat up straighter on the bed.

"Matt's in Europe?" Caroline queried.

"Of course, Matt's in Europe, France first, I believe. Don't tell me he didn't call you. Sometimes that boy has no common sense"

"When did he call you?" Caroline asked her heart pounding at every question.

"When was it, just last week I think. He was taking off on a once in a life time trip, something he'd always promised himself he'd do, last minute flight. He really didn't tell you?" Liz asked, her voice softening as she sensed her daughter might be upset at the news.

"I guess he just forgot… so Matt" Caroline said, a forced laugh on her lips.

"Of course, now you're swanning away too… don't tell me its last minute too?"

"A little bit. I'm leaving tomorrow. I got a great deal" Caroline said apologetically.

"Where to?"

"Argentina" Caroline said after a small pause, trying to come up with somewhere far enough away that getting in touch might be tricky, but not so far or dangerous her mother might worry.

"Sounds lovely, I envy you my dear" she said, and Caroline felt a rush of feeling.

"I… I love you mom, you know that, right?"

"Well, I love you too sweetheart, and of course I know that" Liz answered, a sudden feeling of foreboding coming over her.

"Is everything ok?"

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Caroline asked, her heart heavy in her mouth.

"Nothing, just, you sound a little off" her mother observed.

"I'm just…. Excited for my vacation" Caroline said, and felt a solitary tear slip down her cheek.

"Well, good, you deserve it, and make sure you get a good rest while you're away. Maybe you'll even meet someone special? A holiday romance… be open to things Caroline, work isn't everything. I'm sorry if I taught you it was" Liz said.

"You didn't mom, I promise. I'll do my best" Caroline said, her mind imagining wildly if Niklaus, Prince of the Night Garden, Lord of the Dark was the sort of vacation fling her mom had in mind.

"Ok, well, I've got to go sweetie, book club in half an hour. Promise me you'll call the second you're back, and take care of yourself."

"You take care of yourself too mom. I love you" After Caroline had hung up she stared at the phone for a good 10 minutes fighting the urge to call her mother back and blurt out the whole unbelievable story. But she knew she couldn't. Her mother had always suspected there was something different about her daughter, Caroline was sure, but she'd never treated her differently, and Caroline had never felt unloved or unwanted, but there were limits to what Liz Forbes could accept, and Caroline wasn't going to burden her just to ease her own fear.

So, Matt had told their mom he'd be away. Which meant that he had intentionally travelled to the Night Garden, or at least had planned to be out of reach for a while and didn't want her to worry. Maybe he really was in France, but Caroline knew he'd never go without telling her, then there was the way her apartment was found. Maybe he'd planned to give her the same excuse about Europe, but had been taken before he'd planned. One thing was clear, Matt had prepared for a trip, covered his absence and something had gone wrong, and she needed to find him, and was the only one that could.

Madness or not, she had to try.

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The night she sat on her bed and looked at the patched up window in her room, the sounds of the game muted through the door. She heard when Tyler packed up and paused at her door on the way to bed. She'd cried off dinner, saying she was too tired and overwhelmed. His disappointment had been obvious.

"Car? I'm turning in" he said after a soft knock. She opened the door and gave him a tired smile.

"You ok?"

"I am, thanks. Better for having a rest today" she said, her confidence wavering slightly, before she forged on.

"Actually, I've spoken to the Captain about taking a leave of absence just for a little while, to go home and be with my mom. I trust you guys are doing everything to find Matt, and I feel like I'm just going crazy sitting around here." She held her breath as Tyler's eyes roamed over her face. If he found it out of character, which is certainly was, he decided not to say as he nodded slowly.

"If that's what you want, I totally support you. 100%" he said. Relieved to have got the police and her mom off her back for at least a little while she smiled.

"I'll probably just get up and go tomorrow early then, before traffic gets bad" she said, folding her arms across her chest as she saw him shifting closer. The idea of them as a couple was not something she could deal with just now, not something she was sure she'd even want. Her body language must have given as much away as Tyler seemed to reconsider his pose, and stepped back.

"I'll let you get some shut eye in that case. Goodnight Forbes" he said, and she smiled at him.

"Night Lockwood"

She lay in the dark, her clothes laid out and bag packed in the corner. She wanted to get 2 hours rest, and go when she was sure Tyler would be asleep.

As she lay there, between sleep and awake, she could hear music playing, tugging on the edges of her consciousness. She wondered why anyone would allow such loud music at night, and worried it would wake Tyler up.

She got up to look at the window, and gasped as she found cold stone beneath her feet. Her feet carried her forward and she realised that she was no longer in Tyler's apartment. She was in a bedchamber filled with pale silks and blooming orchids. Mirrors lined one wall and as she glided past, she caught sight of her reflection. She was a ghostly spectre, dressed in light transparent layers of icy blue chiffon and lace, her hair tumbled over her shoulders, as long as her waist. She saw herself walk out onto a stone terrace that seemed carved from the very rock the chamber sat in, and resting her hands on the cool balustrade, she peered over the end. Below a main hall was filled with firelight, and the music floated up gently to her from there, punctuated by the old shrill laugh and low rumbling laughter. Several divans and chaise lounges filled the space before the fire, and she saw a party of sorts going on. There were beautiful women wandering the space, in various states of undress, their gowns loosened to the waist in some cases. Some carried platters of food and there were certainly enough goblets of drink being refilled and consumed. Amid the debauchery, she made out several men, some engaged with the women, others speaking to each other.

At the head of the festivities, a raised chair on a dais called to her, and man on it sat watching the revelry, his shirt unbuttoned and thrown open, hard chest splattered with droplets of red, his leg thrown carelessly over the arm of his intricate throne, his blonde curls dishevelled. She recognised him immediately as the being called Niklaus from her previous vision. He was watching the guests with cold detachment. As she stood there, slowly, as though being inexorably pulled, his gaze rose and found hers. It was so far to be able to tell, but she knew with dead certainty that he saw her clearly, watched as her chest rose and fall, the curve of her breast just visible under the transparent robes. His look of hunger almost stole her breath away.

Caroline knew then that she had never been looked at like that before, a look filled with the simple primitive urge to possess. It was terrifying and electrifying all at once. A serving girl approached him, supplicant at the foot of the dais, and with great effort he tore his eyes from her, and turned that predatory gaze on the small girl shivering at his feet. As she trembled a glass of thick viscous liquid into his goblet, her hand slipped, a dark, coppery stain spreading across her skirts, the party seemed to stop for a moment, everyone holding their collective breath. Caroline felt her heart speed up, a sense of foreboding descending on her. The man on the dais stood slowly his look still focus on the girl frantically trying to wipe the sticky red liquid from her arms before her. Suddenly a scream broke out across the room and Caroline turned to see several of the serving girls running from the room, and one lying unmoving on the floor, a man with a shock of dark hair and pale skin standing over her, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. After that, chaos broke out, with screams filling the air and people running in all directions, woman running in terror, and the men chasing after them, so much faster than seemed possible.

Her eyes returned to Niklaus who was still staring at the girl before him who had escalated to full on begging for her life. Caroline saw as he raised his eyes back to hers, and somehow she could see, even in the dim light and the great distance, black veins appear around his eyes, as his teeth elongated, his blue eyes turning golden and wolfish.

"Run" he instructed, blood lust filling his voice, making it low and distorted. She saw the servant girl before him attempt to scramble to her feet, slipping in what she now recognised to be blood on the floor under her.

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She came awake with a start, the taste of blood on her lips and a cry or horror already formed. She bit it down, her breathing harsh in the quiet room as she looked around and found herself standing in front of the mirror above the vanity of Tyler's room.

She stifled her scream of fright as she realised the mirror did not hold her image.

"Hello, Caroline"


	6. Chapter 6

The second time she woke with a start, she looked around, realising she was still in bed, lying atop the covers, her alarm set to vibrate in 7 minutes from now. She looked down at herself, waiting for her pounding heart to subside. She could remember the dream, or vision or whatever it was, and then feeling of waking, though clearly that had been imaginary. Her phone started rattling against her side and she shut it off quickly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and staring at her reflection in the vanity. As she stood, she noticed something on the mirror, and stepped closer for a look. A handprint, against the centre of the glass. Hesitantly she held her own over the shining surface and shivered as she saw how much bigger it was. It wasn't hers. She touched a finger to the indentation of the thumb and gently smeared it away. It didn't budge. She wiped her whole hand over the print, and it remained untouched, almost as though it had come from inside the glass.

Fighting down the creeps the thought gave her, she picked up a scarf and draped it over the mirror, suddenly paranoid about being watched, acknowledging all the while how crazy it seemed. She quickly stripped off her jeans and shirt, and changed underwear, putting on a sports bra. She then took her clothes from the pile she'd brought home earlier and pulled on the first layer, thin stretchy black leggings and vest. Light layers seemed best if the temperature surrounding the Night Garden threshold were anything to go by. Next she pulled on the trousers that had set her back so much. Cuban fibre pants, thin, flexible and stronger than Kevlar. They went on like a second skin, and coated her legs with the bulletproof laminate substance, resulting in what looked like leather trousers, but were so much more. A fitted vest of the same material went on top, which was then covered by a tightly fitting vest containing all sorts of useful little pockets, which she had filled with everything her badge could give her at short notice. On top of it all, she pulled a black slim zip up waterproof, and wrapped her long hair in a braid, and then a bun high on her head. She had a hat in her bag in case disguising her gleaming blonde locks would prove necessary. She swung on her backpack, holding her tiny pop up tent, sleeping bag, food and more weapons, as well as first aid materials. Once done, she stood in the room and stared at the broken window for a moment. As soon as she left this room, there would be no stopping. She could just change back into her normal clothes, brush her teeth and go to sleep, forget all this lunacy. The temptation was stronger than she'd like.

Or, she would go out into the night, and not return without Matt.

Caroline was a fighter, she always had been, being the outsider in every group she could remember, but she'd never let it beat her, or change her. She had never let it make her afraid to be herself, and it was something she was proud of. The Caroline she was proud of being, the one she was on her good days, would be fearless in the face of losing her brother. She wouldn't let some Grimm's fairy tale scare her away. She wanted to be that woman, she had to be.

She stuffed some clothes into a bag and took them with her, planning on dumping it somewhere untraceable so Tyler would think she had really gone to Mystic Falls. She hesitated at the door, turning her key in the lock quietly. She glanced back at the nice and normal living room, the stand by light on the TV and time shining in green numbers from the microwave. The fridge switched on as she stood there, filling the flat with its mundane humming. Slowly, she set the key down on the console table by the door, and stepped out into the hall. One foot moving slowly in front of the other, she started down the stairs, unsure why leaving felt so terribly final.

"I will come back here" Caroline said as she picked up into a jog for the last few steps, and ignored her powers which came whispering back to her.

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She took the subway to the Explorer's Club, trying to numb her mind against what she was about to do as she watched the slices of brightly lit windows rattle past on the way up town. There weren't many others on at this time, but it wasn't totally empty either. A tired looking nurse, struggling to keep her eyes open, a teenager with headphones in. Ordinary people going about their ordinary lives. How she wished for ordinary right now. She got off the subway at 63rd Street Lexington Avenue and walked quickly up the darkened stairs. The street was quiet, no one walking their dog at this time, and she couldn't help feeling a fresh shiver of anxiety spike through her as she turned in the direction of the old library.

Ahead, a street light flickered overhead, illuminating the street intermittently, and as she turned down Park Av, she was so focused on the destination, that she had stopped being watchful here, and once she'd seen the strange shape slumped on the street ahead of her, it was too late, she was too close.

She stopped instantly, her gaze shifting to the black shape, maybe a pile of clothes, heaped in the middle of the street, completely still. It was largish, big enough to conceal a person? she asked herself, as she went to step backwards, even as a hand shot out and grabbed her ankle. She fell backwards in surprise and felt the pavement meet her skull with a sharp crack. Groaning, she struggled to clear her head and focus her eyes as she saw the dark shape, a young woman, she now saw, stand up and shake off the homeless disguise. She had dark hair and a pointed chin, a wobbling head on a pin thin body. She stepped toward Caroline, and drew her foot back, giving Caroline a swift kick to the stomach. She doubled onto her side in pain, her breath squeezing out at the unexpected blow.

"Stop!" a voice issued from above her head, a male voice, deep and full of anger. Caroline shook her head to clear the ringing and rolled onto her back, her heart swelling with relief.

Tyler had followed her after all.

Even though she was now going to find it more difficult to leave without a full explanation, at least he would help her get out of this. A mere week ago, she had been an almost completely normal person, living an almost completely unremarkable life, and now strange black energy clouds talked to her, she dreamt of places she'd never been and people she'd never met and felt like she knew them and random strangers attacked her in the street. The girl looked like a junkie after a fix, and she hoped Tyler wouldn't make her go down to the station with him to book her.

"I never told you to touch her Hayley"

"You never told me not to" the girl snapped back, and Caroline realised with horror that Tyler knew this person.

"It was implied"

"Why? Because she's your girl crush? She's pretty much the harbinger of death for us, so excuse me if I don't care that you have a crush on Satan's girlfriend" Tyler through a glare at the girl, Hayley and bent to help Caroline up.

"Car, I'm so sorry, none of this was meant to happen like this, I'm sorry" He said, and because she could tell he was being truthful she let him steady her and looked up into his concerned face.

"Who are you Tyler? What is all this? Who is she and why did she attack me?"

"I want to tell you everything, and I will, but not here. Come with me let's go to a diner or something and I'll explain everything"

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They sat in the same booth they usually did in a 24 hour coffee place off Park Av. There was stream of late night caffeine addicts coming and going, and they sat, 3 dressed in black, an island of tension.

Caroline watched the girl Hayley carefully, she didn't like the vibe she gave her. She had insisted on coming, and Tyler had seemed to give up the argument, maybe knowing it wouldn't go anywhere and agreed.

Now they sat, Caroline waiting for the explanation to begin, her hands warming around a cup of black coffee.

"I don't have all night. If you're going to talk… talk" she finally said, losing patience with Tyler's reluctance. He sat back and ran his hand through his thick black hair.

"I don't know where to start"

"Why not at the beginning" he let out a bitter laugh at that.

"I'm pretty sure none of us have time for that"

"Don't speak in riddles. If you want to tell me it's a long story, say so" Caroline snapped. She could feel the pull toward the Explorers Club and Matt, almost like an invisible string inside her, pulling more and more taut the longer she waited.

"Ok, it's a long story, in fact, that's an understatement. This story dates back to the first days of this world."

"Go on" Caroline prompted as he fell silent once more.

"I know that you've heard and seen things in the last few days that you probably had no idea were real. The world we live in is sudden filled with a lot more fantastical and magical things than you'd ever expected, right?" he asked, and she was tempted for a moment to shoot him down and disagree, and yet, she nodded slowly.

'And then, you must have known somehow, since, well, you're not exactly normal yourself." Tyler risked a glance at the response to his words before forging on.

"Well, I've always known about all that stuff and about the Night Garden. Ever since I was young, it was my families, and others like us, it was the cautionary tale used to scare children in submission, and his name, I mean… we don't even say it aloud if we can help it… I'm not even joking." He said.

"Whose name?" she asked, even though she knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Niklaus." Tyler let the word hang in the air before them, and for a moment Caroline wished to snatch them back, as though far away in some dark, moonlit place, a head turned in their direction.

"My people came to this world a long time ago, long enough that an age has passed since any generations have even remembered what The Night Garden was like"

"Who are… my people?" she asked carefully, and saw Tyler's jaw clench and release.

"I am… a lycanthrope." He said, and Hayley let out a snort at the word.

"He means a werewolf. Every full moon, for three nights, we turn into wolves." The girl said, coming fully into the conversation. Caroline sat back and watched her partner. The way he found it difficult to meet her eyes, the shift of his muscular shoulders and strong hands. She tried to imagine them changing into wolves' claws, and found surprisingly, that she could.

"OK" she said slowly.

"That's it, ok?" the disbelief was strong in his voice.

"That's it. After the week I've had, I am pretty sure nothing else can surprise me… that is assuming I am not in a coma having recurrent night terrors, of have a concussion from falling down stairs, or am developing adult onset schizophrenia." She said calmly.

"What does this have to do the Night Garden and Niklaus?" she asked, finally taking a sip of her rapidly cooling coffee.

"Well, in the Night Garden, for centuries our people were kept free from enslavement by a curse, placed by a very powerful witch. You see, Niklaus was the ruler of the Night Garden, of such great power, his birth right was to be able to control almost every kind of creature that had ever lived there. But when he was cursed, he lost some of the power, especially the power over the wolves. We were slaves to him then and when he fell, however momentarily, our brave ancestors escaped the Night Garden, and came here to this world. We have lived here in peace and freely ever since."

"What does any of this have to do with me" Tyler glanced at Hayley, uncertainty on his face.

"Maybe nothing, I don't know. All I know if that Niklaus cannot break the curse and if he does, he cannot be allowed to come to this world. His compulsion doesn't work across worlds. Here, we're safe. Not everyone can enter the Night Garden whenever they want, and the more often the entrance is opened, the more dangerous it is to this world."

Caroline considered his words, as she traced patterns in spilled sugar on the table.

"So, I might not even be able to open it either" she said, though the words of the black mist came back to her, and she had a feeling she would be able to. She saw an almost relief in Tyler's face at her words as he nodded.

"I have to find my brother Tyler. I'm not exactly planning on seeking this Niklaus out, in fact I want to get in and out without meeting anyone from this… place. But I have to try" Caroline said softly as she gathered her bag up and started to slide out the booth.

"Hell no, you can't just walk away just like that" Hayley snarled, jumping to her feet also.

"Yes I can, I'm sorry that you're worried, but I'm not going to leave Matt there to make you feel better" Caroline said as she watch Tyler put a restraining hand on Hayley's arm. She saw the tension ease from the twitchy girl's shoulders a little.

"I get it. It's your choice. I just wanted you to have all the information first." He said.

"I'm pretty sure I'm as in the dark as ever, and if I think about it all too much, I can't deal with it, so right now I'm focusing on what feels real to me. Matt is missing, possibly hurt, and he is on the other side of that door in the Explorers Club somewhere. There is a door, a physical thing that I can hopefully open. That makes sense to me, so that's where I'll start" she said, her voice growing in conviction as she laid out the practicalities, in a way that made her feel like it might actually be possible to find him.

"You've seen it?" Tyler asked softly, stilling at her words, his face almost reverent for a moment.

Caroline nodded slowly.

"Then, I believe you'll be able to open it. Good luck Forbes. I mean it. Be safe, come home" he said quietly as Caroline nodded, and headed toward the door of the diner. As she stepped out onto the street, the sounds of the city rushing over her, car horns and slamming doors, music spilling out a bar next door, someone pulling metal shutters down over a florist across the street, she failed to hear his last softly spoken words.

 _"Blood remembers blood. The Night Garden recognises its own"_

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The Explorers' club lobby was empty, no one to give her an ID, no one to ask her why she was here. She walked unimpeded up the elegant stairs towards the library entrance. The lights were low at this hour, and the deserted feel made her fancy for a moment she might actually be the only person in the whole place, and the lights were on her for her, to welcome her and lead her to the door. As she approached the glass library doors, they slide open, without the previous security measures. She looked warily inside, before stepping into the silent cavernous room, slowly walked down the stacks toward the back and where she had first seen the strange metal door.

She came to the end, all the hair on her body started to stand up, shivers racing up her arms and over her chest as she felt the draw of the entrance, just like before. She saw the same wall as earlier, same normal looking doors and then another, dark and different, almost shining with an internal moonlight. She approached, her nerves growing by the second. There was a handle of some sort, set in the middle, and gingerly she touched her fingers to it, pushing down. Nothing moved, it didn't give even an inch. She tried twisting it, and still nothing. Staring, she found her eyes drawn to the beautiful design that grew across the middle section of the door.

The same profound coolness raced across her skin as she traced her fingers across the iridescent metal, her finger following the path of a carved silver rose, that wound around the door handle.

She gasped as she felt a sudden thorn tear her skin, leaving a ragged puncture wound, spilling a drop of blood onto the handle.

Light seemed to well up from around the edges of the door for a long moment and she stepped back, her heart pounding as she watched how, slowly, with great effort, the door started to inch open.


	7. Chapter 7

When she opened her eyes she found she was in a dimly lit room, heavy drapes lined the four poster bed she was sitting on, and she was raised on a dias of some kind, the rest of the room decorated opulently, and floor length windows reflected the two moon shining on the lake she had come to recognise. She went to stand and found she was wearing a sheer gown, so thin she could see completely through it. She felt her hand grip something hard and lifting it up, she found a strangely carved dagger of some sort, made of white wood, encrusted with silver, it ended in a wicked point, and she stared at the unfamiliar object, feeling a sudden and overwhelming sadness. She hated the dagger, she realised, hated it with her whole heart, and yet she felt grateful for it, knew she needed it somehow. She heard a sound from the doors, and found herself stuffing the vile object under the pillows of the bed and standing up, smoothing her sweating palms over the transparent material falling gently over her. The doors, carved of silver and shadows slowly swung open, and a dark figure strode into the room, his burnished hair catching in the firelight of the candles and roaring hearth, the only colour on his person, except his eyes, a bright burning blue as they found her instantly.

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She felt something feather light brushing her skin, and pulling her out the vision, even as Niklaus opened his mouth to speak. Her eyes took in the forest around her, her back cold against the hard, pine scented floor, and she could see stars, brighter and more colourful than she'd ever seen, twinkling through the branches above. She felt the tickle again, and sat up, her hands brushing her face, of what she now feared might be a spider.

She shook her head back and forth violently, being sure to dislodge any creepy crawlies and looked around. There wasn't anything she could see that could have attacked her, apart from a limp looking vine that was curled on the floor, she looked at it distrustfully. Standing shakily, she looked at her watch, seeing the hands spiralling round and round senselessly, and pulled her phone from her back pocket. No service, no kidding, she thought as she shoved the useless item into her backpack and looked around, trying to get her bearings. The woods were dense, with ancient looking trunks rivalling giant sequoias, and stretched as far as she could see in each direction. She turned back to where she had entered and looked for the door. There was nothing. She turned again, wondering if she'd gotten turned around, or staggered a little from the actual place of entrance, whilst being in her vision. Slowly walking a small perimeter, she looked for something that could be the threshold back to her world. Panic threatened to freeze her to the spot as she realised how fruitless her search was, the forest had little in the way of distinguishing features and she wasn't even sure of where she'd woken up, the vine having disappeared somehow. She tramped around for a while longer before admitting defeat. Once she'd found Matt, she'd just have to work out how to get back. The enormity of the task suddenly descended upon her at that point, and she sank to the base of an enormous tree and drew her knees into her chest. How she was going to find Matt here was impossible to even contemplate, never mind the fact that she had really just walked through a door in a library in New York City and ended up in a forest with jewel coloured stars in the sky overhead. How big this world was, and how she could navigate it were questions she hadn't allowed herself to even consider, she had just followed a strangely strong compulsion to come, find Matt, or try, as quickly as possible.

A sudden rustling from her left sent her to her feet in and instant, her police training taking over as she scanned the surrounding forest, her hand snatching up her gun, the one thing she had deliberated over taking from her other life, but just couldn't leave it behind. She pointed it into the darkness in the direction of the sound. Silence fell, and she could hear her own breathing, it sounded loud and way too fast. She waited, her hands starting to tremble in the effort of keeping her arms extended.

The gun went off with a might shot in the silence of the forest as she felt a thick, leathery hand wrap around her shin, and jerk her violently backwards, making her pull the trigger reflexively. She fell back and felt her body hit the tree, the strong material of her top protecting her skin as she slid down the rough bark to the floor. She could feel the hand still wrapped around her ankle, and flipped over, pointing the gun down in the direction of her attacker.

Nothing. There was no one there. Suddenly, the thing around her ankle tightened its grip and she found herself slowly being dragged along the floor, toward a tree covered in the slithery looking vines she'd first seen. They weren't so limp now, writhing up and down the tree, vibrating with excitement as she was pulled closer. She could see now that it was a particularly thick strand of vine that was pulling her, as she attempted to kick free, twisting this and that way, trying to reach down with her fingers. She pulled her knife from her vest, and put all her strength into contracting down to reach her foot, even as she was being dragged. She lashed out with the knife, once, twice, and then, in a third, final attempt, managed to cut into the vine. It let out an ear-splitting shriek and stopped pulling her for a moment. Using it to her advantage, she quickly bent down and sawed through the rest of the resistant plant, stepped quickly backwards as her foot was freed. There was the sound of angry hissing, and she saw the mass of vines on the tree were now vibrating with an increased frequency. She didn't know much about magical vines in other dimensions, but she'd dare say these ones were pissed. She grabbed her fallen backpack and started to run in the other direction, seeing more large vines shoot off the tree and start determinedly in her direction. She ran over the hard ground, jumping the occasional fallen trunk, glancing back now and again to see the vines were still coming. Faster than ever, they raced over the uneven ground confidently, and were gaining. She turned back and put her focus into running as fast as she could, her legs pumping her breath falling into a steady rhythm, she streaked through the forest, around the massive tree trunks, her blonde hair glinting in the dappled moonlight shining in patches through the canopy.

Up ahead, she could see the landscape start to change, with gradual rocky outcrops appearing, with more in the distance. She raced toward them, unsure how they would help, but also sure she wasn't going to be able to outrun the vines.

She felt the touch of a vine at her heel and stumbled, almost falling, but righted herself and continued on, as another one attempted to halt her. She focused on a large rock and aimed for it with all her might. She finally reached it, barely pausing to launch herself up the side, and scramble up, her fingers tearing on the rough stone surface, a finger nail ripping painfully. She made it to the top and looked down. The vines were amassing at the bottom, and some were already starting to slither up. Remembering how the knife had hurt the last vine, she took it out and brandished it, ready to cut any vine that made it over the lip edge she was perched on. They slowed at the sight of the knife, indicating an intelligence that Caroline feared, before proceeding more cautiously. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her breath was strained, sweat coated her palm and made her grip on the knife precarious. The first vine edged over the lip and she quickly skewered it with her blade. The reverb of the stone underneath echoed up her arm as the vine shrieked its awful death throes and fell back. Several other attempted the same, from all sides, and as she spun around on the small rock top, her legs cramping from the squatting position, she realised she was tiring of this much fast than they would, maybe that was even their plan, she thought wildly, they certainly seemed intelligent enough to have one. Then, she saw their true plan, as one vine approached from one direction, and the other the direct opposite, meaning she wasn't able to take them both out. They slithered slowly up, knowing she was beat, now several approaching from various sides as she spun around, her bleeding fingers biting into the hilt of the knife.

A loud whistle cut through the hissing sound of the vines, and they froze at the noise, as did Caroline, she glanced up to see what had the vines so entranced, and saw a figure standing in a clearing behind them, stepping over the bodies of the vines stretching all the way to her. He was pouring something on them. It took a moment for the smell to reach her, gasoline. The vines were suddenly retreating, zooming over the ground toward the man, but it was too late. Taking a light out his pocket, he lit the small flame, stepping away at the same time as he bent to the peripheral vine and touched it. They went up with a woof, fire engulfing them, the shrieks almost deafening, as the writhed in agony, Caroline supposed. She watched as the bodies slowly stopped moving, and started to turn black.

Standing suddenly, she brought her gun up to the stranger, who had been standing back from the fire, watching. She cocked the trigger and trained her sights on him as the sounds of crackling flames became the only sound in the forest, and a faint smell of burning seaweed drifted over to her.

Thanks to the fire, she could see him quite clearly. He was tall and rangy, with shaggy brown hair, a stubbled jaw and down turned eyes. His mouth was also set in a downturned grimace as he watched the vines die, before turning his gaze to her, and stiffened, seeing the gun. He slowly lifted his hands in the air.

"I'm not armed, and I mean you no harm. You're Caroline Forbes, aren't you?" he called, his voice comforting reminiscent of home.

"Who are you?" she asked, not wavering her aim she watched as he stood completely still, a non-threatening distance and let her gift feel him out.

"Im a friend, and Im here for the same reason you are… to find Matt, my name is Alaric" he said. Caroline could tell he was telling the truth, or mostly, anyway.

"Professor Saltzman." She said, slowly lowering her weapon, the strain in her arms after the mad dash and climb getting to her.

"Yes, that's right. When I found out about Matt, I came here immediately, to find him" alarm bells ringing in her head, Caroline lifted the gun immediately, changing her stance to a shooting position.

"You're lying" she said, confidently, waiting for the nervous looking man to explain himself. He looked thrown for a moment, before swallowing slowly.

"OK, ok, he said you could do that… I was already here. I found out about Matt because I saw them bringing him through the woods from the threshold."

"Was he still alive?" she demanded. Alaric nodded.

"But?" Caroline prompted, seeing his reluctance to answer.

"He… he didn't look good" Alaric answered quietly, and Caroline could feel the truth of his concern for her brother.

"Are you going to hurt me?" she asked hollowly and waited for the response.

"Never" the older man whispered, and she slowly lowered her gun.

"Why were you already here?"

"Because I'm a fool" Alaric muttered as he looked around into the darkness of the forest.

"I need to know why" she stated, holstering her weapon and adjusting her bag.

"And you will, but we need to get out the woods just now, before they come back in a larger number"

Caroline considered this man in front of her and the feelings her power gave her about him. She decided to trust him, bur be wary just now. She had no ideas what the dangers of this world were, and to be honest with herself, an ally sounded pretty good right now.

"Ok, where can we go?"

"I have a place" he said as he turned and started walking away into the woods, she followed, her eyes alert and watchful as they went.

The forest watched them go.

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He sat in the semi darkness of the Midnight Keep, and watched her walk through the trees. He watched with the eyes of every creature of the Night Garden, living and dead as she moved innocently through his realm. So close now.

"Brother, so you see, I have repaid my debt to you, and delivered that with you most wanted. Surely you must grant me my wish to be whole once more" the black mist swirled around him a moment, until he waved a hand to dissipate it.

"Does she kneel before me? Can I taste her tears of defeat? Can I wrap my hand around her pretty little neck?" Niklaus' bored tone belied his internal excitement.

"She is all but delivered, brother dear"

"Well, we shall speak again when she is actually delivered." The black mist paused at the mirror in which he observed Caroline. It hovered near his shoulder, in a consolatory way which irritated him.

"Brother, you need not worry, she will not escape again, you can rest now, finally you can rest" Niklaus turned to the mist, his eyes glowing gold with anger and suppressed power.

"Do not presume to know my mind. Go now, before I lose the little patience I have for you" he growled, and as the black mist drained under the door, he turned back to the mirror.

She was climbing up a rock face, toward the small cave the human had been hiding in. He watched how her hands sought out holds, and the methodical and competent way she moved, sure of her strength and her body. How changed she was. He wondered if she still couldn't help herself smelling roses as she passed, and forbade one to pick unfallen blooms. He caught sight of his own reflection in the mirror and saw the shadow of a smile touching his lips. He turned away, the ice recoating his heart as he heard his father's voice in his head, always observing, mocking, pitying.

He was not weak, not anymore. He was death and destruction, fear and pain made flesh and he would have his vengeance. He sent a summons to a waiting guard.

"Send me Stefan" he instructed and waited as a man, slim and lithe, almost blending completely into the shadows appeared before him.

"You are familiar with the Nocturnal Forest"

"Of course, my lord"

"You will go there and retrieve someone for me." He saw as Stefan's eyes darted to the mirror, a look of curiosity on his noble features.

"If it pleases my Lord, I can take a detail with me"

"No need, this is just one person, a female" Stefan's look of suppressed surprise was almost comical. He caught himself and nodded smartly.

"It will be done" he said, before bowing.

"She won't come easily." He called after his personal guards back.

"It won't be a problem" Stefan answered, and Niklaus saw his friend then, in all his bloodthirsty glory, the part of himself that he tried to hide.

"She should not be unduly… harmed" he observed lightly, and Stephan nodded, his words taken for the command that they were.

"Do this well for me, and I think we can reassess your brother's situation" he said quietly, and ignored the look of pure relief that shot through Stefan's eyes.

"Yes, my Lord." He turned, and more energetically than ever started for the door. Truthfully, he wasn't much inclined to see Stefan's brother, a trouble making upstart, freed from his imprisonment, however, he knew he needed a strong enticement to make sure Stefan would respect his wishes when retrieving his little blonde affliction from the woods, preferably before she got herself killed.

He accepted a glass of viscous red liquid and sat before the mirror, his eyes now that of an owl, perched on a branch near the cave entrance. He could see her taking off her backpack, stretching her back, speaking to the human all the while.

The hours ticked by, and eventually she laid down to sleep. Smiling with satisfaction, he waited until she had descended deep into her slumber, before closing his own eyes, his mind searching for hers, so close now.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Ok, ok, I know this has to be some kind of record for Klaroline not meeting, so here we go... kind of... we have direct communication anyway... enjoy!**_

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"My wife went missing 2 years ago." Alaric stated flatly.

"She was a researcher for another professor, someone who taught some course about the occult. You know, I was originally a history professor." He let out a bitter laugh at that, rubbing a weary hand across his eyes.

"In the years since, I've learned so much about alternative worlds and the occult, supernatural theory, I've actually left that old life behind, it was how I met Matt." Alaric said, as he set about lighting a small fire. Caroline expected to feel colder here, and it was cool, the air almost had an icy feel, but for some reason it didn't bother her.

"We had both lost people we wanted to find" Alaric said, and Caroline frowned up at him, her mind quickly sifting through the options.

"Matt's sister Vicki, the one who went missing when he was a child" she murmured. Alaric nodded, settling back on his haunches beside the fire.

"I thought he had stopped looking, I mean… it's been what, 15 years or more."

"You never stop, not really. You're always looking for them, on the subway, in the paper, every breaking news headline. The ones left behind are fated to chase their ghosts, till the end of their days."

"What lead you here?" Caroline asked, after a pause.

"She did." He said, with an almost embarrassed smile.

"I started to dream about her, and in my dreams she told me things. She described this place, told me she'd been waiting for me to find, this whole time." He broke off, the rough emotion was clear in his voice.

"I don't know… I thought maybe I was going mad. Started to drink a bit too much, I wasn't coping very well. Then I met Matt. He was broken like me, but less so, he'd been younger when it happened, maybe that's the difference. His dissertation got me asking questions again, questioning things I had tried to tell myself were all in my head. Matt had met someone, a fortune teller who was the real deal"

"Divine Jones"

"He pointed us to the threshold. I doubt we would have found it without him. He also helped me get in."

"Blood opens it"

"Who opened it for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Human blood cannot open the threshold… Divine Jones had to do it for me, and it seemed almost painful for him, like it cost him somehow. We got to this side and he disappeared."

"Is he dangerous?" Caroline asked, glancing out at the dark night.

"I don't know, he seemed more scared than anything else, but he is still a creature of this world." Alaric said as he started unpacking the backpack he had had with him when he saved her. She tensed as he deliberated over pulling something out, and relaxed as he offered her a power bar.

"Here, it's not much but it's all we've got." She reached for own bag and took a bag of jerky.

"I came prepared." She said, and saw the hunger in Alaric's eyes.

"Trade?" she had barely suggested it when the bag was plucked from her hand, replaced with a power bar.

"How long have you been here?" she asked curiously, watching the teacher devour the dried meat.

"Depends, what day is it out there?" she got the impression he meant back home.

"Friday"

"I arrived just before they brought Matt through, whichever day that was. Time moves differently here. I feel like I have been here weeks, maybe even months, its impossible to tell in this perpetual night. But if what you say is right, its only been days by our worlds standards."

They ate in silence after that, an owl hooting outside in the trees, before making ready to sleep, though Caroline doubted there would be much of that going on.

 _"Human blood cannot open the threshold_ " the words played around and around in her mind. Alaric must be mistaken, he couldn't know everything about this world anyway. She mused on the words, as sleep slowly overcame her. He must be mistaken.

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In her dream she was preparing to interview a suspect in interrogation room C, and was grabbing a coffee on the way in. She watched her reflection in the glass above the machine as it gurgled and spat out a fresh cappuccino. It was a perk the captain had won for the precinct for most cases solved, a record they seemed to keep getting after Caroline made detective. She looked a little tired, she thought as the milk started to pour into her mug. Her blonde hair was pulled severely back, and her face was pale in the florescent overheads, shadows lining her blue eyes. Her crisp white shirt looked tired from the 12 hour shift, and her collarbones poked through her pallid skin as she reached for her cup, reminding her that she had to get in a better schedule with food. Caroline had a tendency to let her work consume her, and as wrong as she knew it was, the first thing to slip was the basics, like making sure she ate and slept enough. Coffee in hand, she walked slowly toward the room, gulping down the warm liquid, feeling a slight scald on her tongue, but relishing the relief the milky caffeine gave her immediately.

This was a common dream for Caroline, she often dreamt about routine days. Picking out clothes for work, doing laundry, shopping at the grocery store. Maybe her days were too packed with action, her brain liked to focus on the normal and mundane aspects of her day finding it more restful.

She unlocked the door of the room and entered, nodding to the guard outside, and crossed the small space, drawing back her chair with a slight scrape and sat down. She flicked through the folder in front of her, making the suspect wait a moment, watching her, gauging her and as always, tried her best to be inscrutable.

Then she glanced up.

The man from her visions sat opposite her, wearing a slim grey Henley pushed up at the sleeves and various necklaces, peeping out the neckline. She frowned as he watched at her, his blue eyes glinting above a dangerous smile.

"Hello, Caroline." She bristled.

"You will address me as Detective Forbes, if need be" she said, before launching into her spiel on recording the session. She looked at him expectantly afterwards. He noticed her look.

"I'm sorry love, can you repeat that?"

"I asked if you consent for this interview to be recorded?"

"As you wish, Detective Forbes" he said her title slowly, with a lingering sense that made her feel uncomfortable.

She glanced down at her notes to remember what she was supposed to be questioning this man for.

"So, this is where you choose to spend your time?" he remarked, looking extremely at ease for someone sitting in an interrogation room on the wrong side of the table.

"If my work location can be thought of as a choice, then I suppose so" Caroline eventually replied, as she couldn't seem to find anywhere the purpose of her questioning in her notes.

"And that is what you chose to wear?" he continued, his incredulous tone riling her.

"It is considering acceptable professional attire." She snapped before turning back to the folder.

"Something I can help you with, sweetheart?" she glared up at him, surprise by his audacity, to call the interviewing detective sweetheart.

"Can't seem to locate my notes?' he asked, and she suddenly got the impression he was laughing at her.

"Allow me to help" he said, all suave sophistication in his tone, absolutely nothing that prepared her for his next move. A sudden burst of violence, he stood, his chair flying backwards with great force and cracking the wall behind him, and then the table between them was also flying against the wall, seemingly sent there with one flick of his wrist. That strong wrist was moving quickly for her, and even as she struggled to stand, react, she felt his hand close around her throat, and she was being picked up. Her back hit the wall hard enough to knock her breath out of her, and suddenly he was in her face, all sandy hair, tanned skin and angry blue eyes.

He ran his eyes up and over her features, tilting his head as he observed her up close, long enough to detail every freckle, all the while his hand was tight on her throat.

"Recognise me now?" he asked, menace in his voice. She shook her head desperately.

"How about how" he said, his voice deepening into a growl as black veins sprouted around his eyes, and the blue was replaced by gold, his mouth also changed, his incisors lengthening. She felt fear beat through her a moment more as she struggled to breath, feeling dizziness falling over her at the lack of air.

It was only a dream though, she suddenly realised, as she often did in dreams. At the realisation she sucked in a breath, and suddenly she was sitting back at the table with Niklaus across from her, his lips curled in a smirk.

"Impressive Detective. Really, top marks. However, when I find you, when you are brought to me… it won't be so easy to escape me" he whispered, the sound carrying like a clashing bell in the silent room.

"Who are you?" she murmured. She saw a little of the light go out of his eyes at the question and a little more darkness descend.

"You'll see soon enough" he said roughly, before leaning forward, a long-fingered hand splayed out on the table between them.

"Already, my servant is on his way to you, seeking you out in the Garden. It won't be long until he finds you" his quiet words were a promise and a threat. She stared at him, pushing down the fear she felt inside her at his very image. She raised her chin a fraction.

"Let him come. I can take care of myself" she said, crossed her arms over her chest. He took in her actions with a smirk.

"Indeed. So headstrong and obstinate." He said with almost an admiring look.

"How about this, love, I shall offer you a deal, since I am feeling magnanimous, meeting you, talking like this" he said, his eyes perusing her body, almost conversationally, as though they were on a coffee date together.

"I'm not interested in cooperating with you in any way" she said immediately.

"You really must let me finish, its frightfully rude." He admonished, leaving Caroline grinding her teeth and watching him enjoy telling her off.

"I was saying, a deal might be struck, if the conditions satisfy each party."

"Come to me willingly… and I will show you mercy" he said, and she couldn't help the snort that escaped her. He sat back, regarding her blankly, in consternation.

"If that's your best offer, you had better give up now" she advised. He watched her a little longer, narrowing his eyes at her, as she stood up and strode toward the interview room door.

"Very well, how about, come to me willing, and I shall let your brother go" his words stilled her. She turned slowly around and stared at him, swallowing nervously.

"Have your attention, do I?" he asked, gloating. He pointed to the chair opposite him, and she sat hesitantly down.

"Is he ok?" she asked.

"He was last time I checked, however that may have been a while ago. We do tend to forget how much upkeep humans need, food everyday, water, that sort of thing. He was also bleeding quite heavily last I saw." Niklaus went on, his blue eyes never leaving her face, drinking her in with a quiet intensity.

"Come to me now, of your own volition and I shall be merciful. I will have him tended, healed and sent on his way back to your world, it is in your hands." He said, his voice had now dropped to a hypnotic timber and she almost felt his words plucking at her skin.

"After I have come to you, could I leave with Matt?" she asked, and braced herself against his harsh laugh.

"You really don't have much experience in how trades work, do you my dear? I hold Matt's life in my hands, if you wish to save him, you may swap your life for his life. Or, I can wait until my faithful servant fetches you, kill you brother, or keep him to use against you as I wish going forward. The choice is yours." She felt a lone tear slip out her eye and slowly trace down her cheek. He watched it in silence before standing suddenly, the chair scrapping hard against the floor.

He moved quietly to her side, and surprised her by running and hand down her wet cheek, and she sat frozen at the contact, feeling fire in the wake of his flesh against hers.

"I can be merciful Caroline, if you let me… just… submit to my will, surrender yourself to me and I will be kind, I give you my word." He said, his hand was in her hair now, gently tangled in the curls there, the feeling sending gooseflesh prickling all over her body, and shaking her awake. She pulled away and sent a scornful look at his touch, drawing in her shoulder and leaning her head away, she looked up and met his stormy gaze.

"Never, I'll die first" she promised, her cheeks rising with colour and her eyes shining with anger. He watched her, his look assessing as his eyes travelled over her brow and forehead, down to cheeks and then lingered on her mouth, before returning to her eyes.

"As you wish" he said simply, and suddenly she was waking up lying on the damp hard floor of the cave, feeling the cold wind whistle in through her blankets, only the dying embers of the fire giving her enough light to see.

It was enough however, to see Alaric standing in front of the fire, her gun in his hand, the dark eye pointed at her.

"Alaric, what's wrong?" she asked cautiously, shifting into an upright position.

"Who opened to door for you? You need to tell me now" he said as she tried to shift to her knees.

"Don't move" he said and she heard the fear in his voice. She held her hands up.

"What are you? Tell me now, or I'll shoot."

"I opened the portal myself. I can't tell you how because I don't know." She said honestly, gazing down the barrel of the weapon. Silence stretched out between them.

"How long have you been different?" he asked at length.

"Ever since I can remember, I was born with my… abilities" she said, her chin raising a fraction, unwilling to apologise for something that was so integrally a part of her.

"Those are gifts of the Night Garden, which means a piece of you is from here… which makes you dangerous." He said, pointing the gun again with renewed vigour.

"I have never even heard of this place before last week. This is all new to me, I don't know what's going on or why Matt is here… but I am not dangerous, I am a cop, I protect people. And as for my gift, I use it to help save people" She said reasonably, making every effort to keep her tone calm.

He watched her a moment longer, the gun wavering slightly. She could see as the fight went out of his eyes. Before he could lower the gun however, with a sudden flurry of white feathers, a massive owl, bigger than she'd ever seen, swooped into the cave, its wings brushing the walls.

It screeched loudly, long talons extended, heading straight for Alaric's face. She didn't think, she acted as she had been trained to, and threw herself in front of the bird. She felt the talons meet her cheek and neck, slicing as they went, even as the wings beat backwards to change direction. Time slowed for that instant as the air of the wings pushed her hair back, and she straightened up in the face of the hovering white creature, its large black eyes looking into hers, blood dripped down her cheek and neck, red velvet against her ghostly skin.

"Go" she whispered to the bird, suddenly sensing its torment, it's guilt. It swooped out the cave, and she watched it arch around in moonlit night outside their hiding place before it turned back toward them, picking up speed. It barrelled forward, diving with unnatural stillness and force, and Caroline watched as it hit the outside of the cave beside her, a sickening crack filling the air as the limp body fell the ground below.

"Jesus, what the hell just happened?" Alaric asked as he set the gun down and stepped forward, pulling a gauze out his bag to stem the blood flowing from her face.

"It displeased him" she said, allowing Alaric to tilt her head back to gently blot her cheek.

"Who? This might need stitches" he muttered.

"It's Master. Let me see what I have in my bag" she said, turning away, the whole episode making her feel sick.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I should have trusted you, you're Matt's sister after all."

"It's ok, it's not easy, knowing who to trust, being here. None of this is easy" she said. He took the new gauze she'd given him and applied if after spraying an antibacterial spray.

"We might have to do something about these tomorrow" he said, shifting to try and see better in the dying light.

"We will. We also need to move, I don't think your hiding place is much of a secret anymore" she said as she sat back down on her thin sleeping bag, zipping herself in and lying down, ignoring the throb of her deep scratches.

"Agreed, and tomorrow, we find Matt" Alaric said, an uncertainly belying his bravado. Caroline nodded in the darkness. Niklaus's words and deal swirling in her head.

"Agreed"

Tomorrow she would rescue Matt, one way or another.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, as much as they could judge it by the position of the moon came quickly, and soon they were all packed up and descending from the cave.

"As far as I can tell, they do have settlements of a kind, I suggest we start at the one I'm most familiar with." He said, shouldering his pack and starting in a direction.

"Is it near the castle?'

"There's a castle?" Alaric asked, turning back. She nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that's were Matt is" she said. Alaric looked at her a long moment.

"Do I want to know how you know?"

"Vision" she said shortly, unwilling to get into the strange interactive dream. It seemed to satisfy him anyway, and he squatted down and pulled an old looking map from his pack.

"I found this in the Explorer Club archives. Someone seems to have attempted to map this place, but there isn't a castle on it. There is however a larger concentration of holdings and dwellings, maybe like you would see near to a capital or centre of some kind. I say we start there." He said, drawing a line with his finger toward a large area of green.

"This is where we are, it's a straight shot, and not even that far, if the scale on this map is to be believed, so I guess we will see. How does your face feel?" he asked. She raised a hesitant hand to her cheek.

"Ok" she said noncommittedly. Alaric raised an eyebrow at her answer.

"Ok enough, considering we've better things to worry about" she clarified, pushing past him and starting to walk.

"We won't be much use to Matt is you drop dead of sepsis before we get there" Alaric called stubbornly, but she could hear him start to follow her.

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They walked the entire first part of the day, stopping only briefly for water breaks, to choke down some dried meat and trail mix. As Caroline walked, she could feel the scratches on her face stinging, the sting growing deeper and deeper as the day wore on and they finally reached the outskirts of the forest. The large trunks gradually gave way thinner foliage, and more and more rocks, with even some trodden trails appearing.

Caroline found her eyes were adjusting, with the midpoint of the "day" seemingly significantly lighter than the previous night. They continued on cautiously, picking their way around a river, silver tinkling threads in the high moonlight, the gentle bubbling comfortingly familiar. As she walked on, her mind occupied with Matt, and how they were going to get him back here, even if she could find him, when she saw a stiffness appear in Alarics broad back, just ahead. His shoulders slowly rose, and she felt the same eriee feeling creep over her. The river suddenly seemed dimmed somehow, and the she realised the quiet birdsong that had accompanied them all morning had fallen silent. She carefully, and as casually as possible slid the top of her holster open and flicked the safety off. They walked on for several minutes, ears straining for any sign of danger, when they heard the clanking sound of chains up ahead. Skirting deeper into the forest, they approached slowly.

There was a small rise, from which they observed the first other person they'd seen since arriving. There was a tall man, dressed completely in back, with a deep red insignia decorating the shoulders. He was standing beside a smallish cart, also completely black with the same deep red insignia, completely covered except for a small slit in both sides. A large dappled carthorse pulled the strange wagon over a gravel road. The first real sign of life. He had stopped the vehicle and gotten down, wandering around the other side. Alaric turned to her, his voice barely a whisper.

"What do you think? Does really seem the type to be asking for directions from" the former history professor grimaced and Caroline almost laughed. She was so taut with stress and the mad itching of her scratches were getting to her.

"What's in the wagon?" he continued after a moment. Caroline carefully pulled her gun out, and suddenly started over the rise.

"Let's go see" she said, ignoring Alaric's protests. She agilely slipped down the slope and approached the wagon. Up closer she could see the insignia better, a crimson wolves head, howling a moon, dripping with blood. It was gruesome and she hurried past it, leaning her hip on the side of the cart, listened for a sign of movement on the other side.

She stifled a cry as suddenly, she felt something grasp her hair, and tearing her head to the side, saw fingers reaching through the metal slots carved in the side of the wagon.

"Please, help us" a whisper came from with. She saw Alaric scoot down the side of the hill and land beside her, panting.

"There's people in the wagon" she whispered to him. He reached up and peered in the slot, too high for Caroline to reach, and pulled back cursing, even as the voice from within cried out with renewed urgency.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know" Caroline chewed her lip as she listened for sounds of the guard returning.

"Free them?" she suggested.

"We don't know what they've done"

"Caroline?" a voice called, and her heart almost stopped. The voice was female, she told herself and she tried frantically not to get her hopes up.

"Is that… Detective Forbes? It's me, Bonnie Bennet… Matt's friend." The voice whispered, and Caroline felt her disappointment clash with concern as she pressed her face to the wood.

"Yes, it's me, I'm here with Professor Saltzman. What happened?"

"A man came, a wizard, he knocked me out with something, and when I woke up we were already across the threshold." Bonnie whispered. Caroline struggled to process the words.

"Are you alone?"

"No, there's another girl, but she's unconscious"

"Ok, don't worry, it's going to be ok, we'll get you out" she said, ignoring the questioning look Alaric gave her.

"We have to help… she's human."

"She can't be completely if she's here, unless she's as dumb as me. How did you meet?"

"When I was looking for Matt. She's a witch… maybe that explains it, or maybe it's just not as simple as human or not" Caroline snapped toward the end.

"The important thing is she's being held against her will and she's afraid. That's enough to help someone" she said, and started to look for a way to open the cage.

"You keep a look out for the wizard, I'm checking the top." She said, already half way up the wagon, using the metal bolts on the sides as holds. As she cleared the top, she saw a hatch, and made toward it, just as she saw from the corner of her eye, a quickly moving black object.

"Caroline!" she heard Alaric shout, and then heard the sound of the two men meeting, as Alaric jumped on the man from behind. She crawled to the middle of the roof and took out her gun. There was a heavy padlock on the door, and praying it would work, she hit down heavily on the connecting pins with the butt of her gun. Once, twice, and then the lock fell open. She stood to pull the heavy door up, and reached down, instantly grasping Bonnie's outstretched hand.

She could hear the fighting below come to a stop, and looked down to see Alaric frozen mid punch as though in ice. Magic.

"Get me up and I'll take him out" Bonnie shouted from below as Caroline strained to pull her up. She saw the man in black step back from the frozen body of her friend, and turn his attention up. He raised his hand, and the last thing she saw was a pulse off pure blue energy surge toward her, and then she was weightless, blackness sliding over her as the world fell away.

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"Do what you will with them, I care not"

"I do not think Caroline will find your attitude pleasing brother, do not forget her role, she is here for a reason, whether you accept it or not."

"Thank you for that succinct summary and reminder of my handicap brother, why don't you return to the Court of Souls where you belong and continue to judge, as it is what you excel at."

Caroline felt her body pressed against cool stone, her ear practically burning as she struggled to make out their words. Her hands were trembling, if she were to be found, she knew not what he might do. He was vicious and cruel and had not shown any sign of humanity or benevolence in the two weeks since her arrival. She heard Elijah, Klaus's elder brother stride off, and then silence. It was almost… expectant.

"You can come out now, little mouse" his voice called, and she felt her heart shudder in her chest. Gathering her courage, she pushed her trembling body around the corner from which she had been concealing herself and met his blue gaze shyly.

"You were aware of my presence" she stated quietly, watching as he sat on his throne, one leg thrown lazily over the arm, the personification of terrible insolence.

"I usually am, in fact, in these last few weeks, I have rarely felt a break from it" he said, and she heard him swing his leg over and sit forward.

"Come closer Caroline" he murmured, and she found her legs obeying without thought. She stood before him, and felt her cheeks heat red as his eyes slowly perused her form.

"How long do you think you will survive here, in the Midnight Keep?" he asked, and she felt tears threaten at his casual cruelty.

She swallowed hard and heard him laugh.

"More tears? I should think the rivers and lakes of this land would be dry for all your weeping. If I had not seen for myself, the moon turned blue from you tears, I would think you completely powerless" he growled as he stood before her, suddenly seeming angry. She bit her lip, afraid to enrage him further. She froze as she felt him suddenly shift behind her, and his long, nimble finger gently lift the hair off her neck, its loss quickly replaced by the faint touch of his breath.

"I find myself dreaming of this neck, long and white, unmarked and pure. I dream of sinking my teeth into it and drawing deep of the sacred blood within, drinking and drinking until your goodness is drawn into my darkness, your light burning within the very blackness of my soul…" he spoke in a sensuous whisper, and she found her eyes drifting closed despite the words.

"Only then, will you truly understand what darkness is, sweetheart, and only then, will I be able to extinguish it once and for all" he said, tightening his grip on her neck, the very tip of a fang brushing the skin there so lightly she thought she'd imagined it.

Then, all at once, he was gone, back on his throne, his unruffled appearance at odds with the intense and stirred look in his eyes.

"Well, I suppose you had another motive for listening into my conversation other than hear my brother and I trade insults. Speak now, before I grow tired of your presence" his words, like knifes cut her into small pieces as she tried to regain her composure and meet his eyes.

"I wish to know the fate of the witches that you no longer have use for in the castle"

"Ask Elijah, I care not"

"Excuse me, Milord, but I heard your conversation, according to custom, they should be put to death to avoid sharing any secrets."

"Then you have your answer" he waved a dismissive hand.

"Quite. But I do not agree and I would like your personal promise that they will be treated well, a memory spell cast, and then sent home to their families" she said bravely. She saw she had caught him by surprise.

"Do you indeed, little one. How surprising, the mouse has a tongue, and quite the demanding one at that" She blushed at his words, and yet stayed strong to her task.

"They have served you loyalty and given much of their lives to that servitude, strangers even to their own blood. Can I have your word" He stared at her a while longer, before shrugging indifferently.

"If it means that much to you, I suppose so"

"The witches will be sent back to their families."

"As you wish it" he said, standing and approaching her one more, intrigued by her sudden show of courage. She met his eyes back, and then, in a completely winning way, suddenly grinned, a grin of such childish innocence and joy he had not seen the like of in 1000 years.

"What has inspired this display, may I ask?" he asked quietly, not wishing to end the sudden sunshine spilling onto him from her.

"It's only, when I asked, you looked so surprised, I was long beginning to think you were not capable of an expression other than disgust or anger… or perhaps sorrow" her words becoming serious, he flinched away from her large blue eyes, probing him with her compassion.

"I am not sorrowful" he said in an indulgent tone. She nodded slowly.

"Very well, then I am not timid" she whispered and the grin was gone. She was walking away, her slim body robed in blue, his new favourite colour, and then was gone. He wondered at himself, left smiling like a simpleton after an exchange with nothing more than an innocent child. The debauchery he had engaged in, the hedonistic sins of the body, the revelry of violence and lust that he had made his lives work, thrust into stark and empty relief by the innocent teasing of village child. He summoned a servant to his side.

"Send word to the Court of Souls, the witches should be put to death immediately. Nothing is to delay it." He said curtly, watching with a self-destructive satisfaction as the servant rushed to see his will done. She should learn sooner rather than later the meaning and value of his word, and that the only sorrow he carried, would be the reflection of her own, in his eyes.

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The burning in her cheek was what woke her from her magical slumber, she supposed as she surfaced, from a great depth, struggling up to light and voices, leaving her visions in the darkness below.

How the vision might come to pass, she did not know, she barely even recognised the Caroline in them, perhaps this Niklaus would break her far faster than she imagined.

As she opened her eyes, she regretted it almost immediately as she saw she was now inside the cage, with Bonnie, Alaric and the still unconscious girl. She turned her head, her movement drawing Alarics eyes.

"You're awake, thank god. That warlock hit you with some kind of spell and you went down. How are you feeling?" he asked, kneeling in the centre of the wagon to support her. She felt her head spin as she came upright.

"I've been better." She admitted. She pushed her back against the rough wooden wall and let her head rest back, jostled with the swaying of the wagon.

"How long was I out?"" she asked, glancing between Bonnie and Alaric.

"Almost a full day, maybe a little more. Which means we are well on the way to wherever they are taking us" he said. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Let's just hope it's in the direction of the castle." She muttered, she caught Bonnie staring at her.

"Have you been to the Night Garden before?" she asked quietly. Caroline shook her head slowly.

"No, not that I know, but there is something strange happening to me here" she admitted, causing Alaric to look up at her sharply, no doubt questioning why she hadn't told him as much before.

"You have a gift, I sensed it when you visited me." Bonnie prompted as Caroline hesitated, unsure how to start. She nodded slowly.

"Is it changing, growing?"

"It has always been a fluid thing, what I can do now is much more than I could when I was younger… and then here… its changing even more" Caroline said quietly.

"How so?" Alaric asked softly. She watched the moonlight spilling through the slit window in the side of the wall, taking her time to answer.

"I was able to glean things about the future, to know when someone was lying, or even when they didn't know that they were lying, so, the truth of a situation. I could catch glimpses of the past as it was connected to a person or object, which I used as a cop all the time. Now though, I am getting full on future visions, full blown technicolour scenes."

"What do you see?"

"I see… myself, and others of the Night Garden, though I have no way of knowing if they are real or not."

"Is it happening here?" Alaric asked, getting straight to the heart of her biggest fear. She nodded slowly, suddenly feeling an overwhelming urge to either laugh or cry. They sat in silence at that, a long moment.

"So, it looks like I won't be going back with you anytime soon." She whispered before offering a broken smile.

"But at least Matt isn't there, none of you are, so I guess you'll all make it home, and that's good." she tried her best for brusque as she said it.

A loud snort sounded from the corner of the wagon, and they all jumped, turning quickly to the fourth figure. The girl had rolled onto her side and was now pushing herself up into a sitting position. With waist-length dark hair and chestnut eyes, Caroline found herself staring into the familiar smirk of the so-called Katherine, the assistant imposter who'd taken her to the Explorers club to begin with.

"Must you insist on being as stupid in this world as your own. Stupidity here will get you killed you know" the girl warned, wrapping her arms around her knees and staring right back at Caroline incredulous gaze.

"You"

"Right back at you" Katherine smiled a sweet poison at her before batting her lashes at Alaric.

"I'm Katherine, but you may call me Kat." She said, a predatory gleam in her eye.

"And just how did you end up in here with the rest of us, I thought you were on the other team" Caroline ground out, resisting the urge to smack the smug look off the girls face.

"Please, the day I am on the same team of those Original losers is the day I die, I mean literally, they want me dead." She finished, as she swept her long hair up into a bun and settled back against the wall.

"So, why are you helping them?"

"I am hardly helping them now, and I was trying to pay off a debt. You see, I pissed Klaus off, way before you did. He has many faults but his profoundly long capacity for grudges must be the worst." She rolled her eyes

"You seem pretty relaxed for someone who has been captured by people who want them dead" Alaric observed.

"If I got depressed every time I got in a tough spot, there wouldn't be much time for much else, anyway, I'm like a cat, 9 lives, though I might be done to 4" she said, with a cheeky wink, before suddenly turning her attention to Bonnie, who had been quiet.

"Hi there Bon Bon, I suppose I have you to thank for that ambush at The Grill" she said, raising an eyebrow at her. Caroline looked back and forth between each them.

"You know each other" she stated flatly before turning to face Bonnie more fully.

"I think it's about time we stopped keeping secrets, if we are going to get out of this." Caroline said, crossing her legs in front of her and trying to ignore the pulsing coming from her cheek.

Bonnie stared dangers at Katherine, before reluctantly nodding.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why don't you start with her visions, the ones crippling her with fear of a future bound and chained to The Night Garden's monstrous ruler, dictator and resident psychopath, while her loved ones are safe at home, leaving her to rot in this hell dimension?" Katherine said gaily, an almost pained look of brightness in her eyes.

"I don't want to hear it from you" Caroline snapped at the girl, who was far too abrasive for her increasingly limited patience just now. Katherine looked up at her harsh words, her expressive brown eyes almost losing their hard, acerbic light, and for the smallest moment, in a stripe of cold blue light landing across her face, Caroline was surprised to see a look of hurt, flash across her features. Katherine shrugged, her mask shuttering back down and wrapped her long arms around her knees, turning her face away to the other side, cheek resting against her forearms. Caroline looked back to Bonnie.

"Well, I for one can't take the suspense, Miss Bennett, care to enlighten us?" Alaric said. Bonnie stared at them both, twisting her elegant fingers together.

"Ok, it's hard to know where to start, or even why it's all happened? I had no idea, before I met you, I mean we had all heard the prophecy, but, you never really know…" Bonnie rambled, before seeming to gather herself, meeting Caroline's gaze, she uttered the words that sent Caroline's world spinning off its axis.

"They're not visions of the future… they're memories of the past."


	10. Chapter 10

Before

Caroline ran along the dirt path, her knees pumping energetically, hair streaming like kite tails out behind her. She barrelled down the small hill beside her cottage, and ran straight into her mother, the smell of home, and the soft, clean scent of her skirts against her fingers filling her with contentment.

"Mama, I caught a fish at the river, and it was this big" she said, throwing her arms wide. Her mother brushed the top of her curly head as she stepped past and continued to the wood store, starting to load her arms with firewood.

"That's wonderful darling. We can have it for supper" her mother said, and saw her daughters face turn apologetic.

"What is it, Caroline?"

"It looked so sad on the hook, and I worried it might be a mama fish, and it's little fishes would miss it… so.." she trailed off, glancing up guiltily at her mother. Elizabeth Forbes sighed quietly at her warm-hearted girl.

"So, you threw it back?" Caroline confirmed her suspicions.

"In that case, come and help me finish the pie I was already preparing for supper" Liz said, turning back toward the cottage, her little helper running along on her heels.

Later, as Caroline dozed by the small fire in their humble hearth, her golden head shining in the amber light, as Liz drew her needle through the darning, her eyes straining to see in the firelight, she let her mind drift to her worries, the place it usually went in the deep and silence forest nights.

She had tried to teach Caroline to be more ruthless, more selfish, anything that would stand her well to survive in this world in the future. She knew better than any that The Night Garden was an increasingly dangerous place, with new monsters that lurked in the shadows, the type that no witches' amulet could possibly deter. She worried she had failed her daughter, failed to teach her to fear the dark, and the creatures in it.

Despite her best efforts, Caroline remained as pure and trusting, as good and as full of light as she had ever been, the child born under twin new moons, the girl with a shard of starlight in her soul.

Her little girl was marked by her birth, by the universe. When she was older, they would come for her, she had been prepared for as much, though the thought of it still tore her in two. She longed to run away, hide in the mountains or withdraw deep into the forest, spend their days gathering berries and fishing in streams, alone and safe. Or sometimes she even dreamed of leaving this world, finding another place where her daughter was not marked, where she had an ordinary destiny.

Even as she wished it, she knew it was impossible. The Night Garden needed Caroline, needed balance in the creeping darkness. She only hoped her little girl, the flaming beacon of light, would continue to shine in the encroaching darkness, and maybe even start to beat it back, when the time came.

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In her first week at The Midnight Keep, Caroline barely saw another soul, in fact almost six days had passed since a young witch had slipped into her room and sat on the edge of the simple bedspread and none too gently shook the lump under the covers that was Caroline. At the tender age of 17, Caroline had struggled with accepting her new role in the kingdom, and especially the fact that it would involve forever being parted from her mother. She hadn't understood why her mother couldn't live with her in the castle, but in any case, there was no one to ask, no one to plead with, just stone faced guards who had shone up to escort her, on the day of her birth.

She had clung to her mother, her teeth slipping a river in the dirt of their garden, one she loved very much.

"But mama, I don't understand. I want to stay here with you" she had sobbed, her eyes straying to the frightening black carriage sitting close by, with an insignia that looked as though it were painted in blood.

"I know my sweet, starlit girl, but this is your destiny, and we cannot shy away from our duties in this world, or any other." Her mother kneeling to her daughters tear stained face, run her finger over her salted cheek.

"We are not those women Caroline, we are stronger than that" she said, and Caroline saw behind the pain, the pride her mother had, of being mother to a child of prophecy.

That had all been a week ago, a long week of lying in her simple cot in her largely unfurnished room, staring at the ceiling or crying into the pillow. She didn't care what they thought of her. She was in mourning for her life. Not that anyone had even approached her, other than a procession of different maids dropping food off for her, food that had largely remained uneaten. Until now.

"Hey, little doll… you have to eat something you know. No one else is going to tell you this, but if you don't eat something, when the Prince returns, he'll be furious, he'll probably kill all the servants who have attended you" the young witch whispered, sitting back as Caroline sat suddenly up, stricken.

"What? That's despicable." She gasped, her eyes meeting the large brown ones trained on her.

"Well, that's Klaus. He's already knows, he's on his way back. He's…. felt your weakness growing. I'm Katherine Pierce" she said, sticking out a hand that smelled of pounded herbs.

"Caroline Forbes. What do you mean he already knows?" Caroline asked, sliding her knees out the bed and reaching for the tray of cold food.

Katherine sat back against the bottom of the bed, her eyes straining over the room, a distasteful glint in her eye.

"Klaus knows everything in The Night Garden, or at least he thinks he does. However, when it comes to you, he probably does." Katherine said, snagging a withered apple from the tray, before changing her mind and dropping in onto the covers.

"I thought you'd get nicer quarters than us… strange"

"They are far bigger and fancier than my home" Caroline argued.

"Didn't you grow up in a hovel in the woods?" the other girl said, and Caroline felt a blush stain her cheeks, her mind flicking over the home she'd loved so much.

"It was perfect" she sighed softly.

"Well, you can always ask Klaus if he has worst rooms he can stick you in" Katherine suggested. She watched Caroline eat in silence.

"Are you afraid?" Katherine suddenly asked Caroline. Caroline stared back, and then slowly shook her head.

"Not afraid really, just sad." She said, forcing more cold food down her throat.

"What do you know of The Prince of the Dark?"

"Nothing really" Caroline admitted and saw understanding enter Katherine's eyes.

"I see, that explains it"

"Explains what?"

"Why you aren't more afraid."

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Two days later, the Prince arrived at the castle. Without any clothes other than the simple homespun ones she'd brought, Caroline tried her best to dress up at Katherine's urging. The other girl was certain the Prince would demand to meet her, and she didn't want Caroline to disappoint him so quickly. Refusing offers to borrow clothes, Caroline wore a plain blue dress that shed made herself, which was only a little worn. She braided her hair and pinned blue and white flowers from the garden into it. They released a sweet jasmine scent around her.

The castle was a bustle as she made her way out her rooms, for the first time since she'd arrived. The stone walls of the Midnight Keep were high and forbidding, but clean and welcoming all at once, and they certainly kept the wind out, she thought admiringly as she wandered in the general direction of the activity.

In the keep itself a huge fire had been banked, in a hearth large enough for her to walk into. Food was piled high on tables and musicians had set up in the farthest corner.

"Caroline!" she heard a voice call, and was relieved to see her friend, resplendent in a yellow satin gown, rushing toward her.

"I thought you were dressing up?" Katherine demanded.

"I have!" Protested Caroline as her friend propelled her through the doors and outside into the moonlit courtyard. People milled around, gathering into rows to greet the returning royal party. She breathed deeply the fresh air, her heart signing at being outside again. After a while, the din damped down to an excited hubbub, and she heard trumpets sounding, beyond the castle gates.

The first horses through the gates crashed wildly ahead, barely pulling up short of running over the assembled occupants of the castle. She saw a woman cry out in front, a very finely dressed lady, with deep red hair and pale skin, her hardly concealed bosom heaving with fear. One of the riders jumped energetically off the horse, his dark hair and mischievous eyes surveying the crowd.

"Apologies all, Lady Rebekah thought she could beat me, and I had to put her in her place, once again" he crowed, as the other figure descended her horse, a slim blonde with a thunderous expression. She wore a riding habit like Caroline had never seen, with a tall, masculine hat sporting a small mesh veil over her pouting face. A closely cut tweed jacket and skirt showed her figure in audacious detail. She swapped the other man with her riding crop before sweeping inside.

The sound of more carriages and horses brought the rest of the party to the courtyard. She watched as some people left the carriage, and two men on horseback brought up the rear. One was as dark as the other fair, they spoke quietly together. The dark one's eyes scanned the crowd, and landed briefly on her, before shifting to Katherine beside her.

"That's Lord Elijah, the Prince's brother, he sits on the Court of Souls and decides the fates of those who have broken the rules of our realm." Katherine whispered low in her ear. Caroline felt her eyes slide from him, the dark-haired Elijah and his noble brow, to the one he was talking to. A predatory gaze filled his handsome face.

"And the other?"

"That is Niklaus, the Prince" Katherine said her whispered trailed off inaudibly. As though his name had drawn them, his stormy blue eyes surveyed the crowd, searching. As a magnet meets another, she felt when they suddenly snapped onto her own with almost a physical shiver. He eyes travelled her a long moment, seeming to ignore his brother until he too turned to look at her.

Niklaus's eyes were like a hot torch on her skin. She could fee their path, even as blood beat into her cheeks, and she lowered her face, allowing her braid to fall, concealing her features.

And then, he was gone, moving inside and those left outside where left sagging with exhaustion over the excitement of it all, well Caroline was anyway. Katherine actually seemed to be bouncing.

"That did not go badly at all, it's a good start I think" she said, grabbing Caroline's hand. Caroline's gaze followed the backs of the procession, and she saw at the very rear, there was a bedraggled group of people, some were bloodied, most had rags of clothes on. They trooped, with down cast eyes, some clutching younger children.

"Who are they? They need healing, perhaps we should help them to the magic wing" Caroline suggested, seeing Katherine tense as she followed her friends gaze.

"No need" she said at length.

"Why not?"

"They won't be receiving magical treatment"

"Why not, who are they?" Caroline asked, more puzzled than ever. AKtherine hesitated a long moment, before looking away.

"They are the catch of the hunt" she said. Caroline stared hard at her friend, shocked into speechlessness. She looked back at the people, now she could see their fear, their acceptance of their fate.

"What will become of them?" she whispered.

"It's best not to ask" Katherine said before shaking off her melancholy, as false as her new enthusiasm seemed, smiled brightly.

"Come, since this is the first time you've left your rooms, let me show you around your new home" the girl said, tugging her away.

Caroline felt her heart shake at the girl's words, but gradually allowed herself to be pulled away. Now she knew why she was here, she knew her purpose she realised, as she followed Katherine, unaware of the eyes that watched her from the window above.

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That evening she returned to her room, walking the unfamiliar corridors, her heart lighter from a day outside and in good company, while torn with worry for the captured people housed somewhere in the labyrinthine castle. As she went, she started to fret whether she was finding her way correctly, and after a good quarter of an hour more, she started to realise that she might be lost.

She thought she would return to Katherine's quarters and request help, already spinning in the opposite direction, when she hit a hard body just behind her, someone coming around the corner at speed, and fell backwards. Her elbows hit the hard ground thought she managed to prevent her skull cracking on the stone as she struggled to get her bearings. A creeping sense of dread had already warned her who exactly it was that stood over her now. Dressed all in black, his high, tightly fitted boots were now before her, expectant. She finally looked up, forced her gaze to meet his. He was looking blankly down at her. She scrambled unaided to her feet, brushing her skirts down into place.

She dropped into a curtsy.

"My Lord" she said, as she then backed into the wall at the side, keeping her eyes downcast, waited for him to pass, as she had seen the others of the castle do, in the presence of the royal family. She felt her cheeks heat even further when he made no move to leave.

"Do you think you are a servant in this castle?" he eventually enquired, his smoky voice richly accented. She risked a glance at his face, and quickly dropped her eyes one more.

"I am not sure what I am in this castle" she admitted quietly and waited. She could still feel his eyes on her, sweeping over her dress now, and her green stained fingertips, where she had helped Katherine prepare potions.

"Your rooms are not in this part of the Keep." He observed tightly, still watching her like a hawk.

"I know, I am afraid I am lost"

"Indeed" he answered almost instantly before turning on his heel and striding away. She waited, her heart pounding and her eyes still lowered. She heard his footsteps halt down the corridor.

"Well, are you coming? Presumably you'd like to find your sleeping quarters, unless you'd care to share mine?" that got her legs moving and propelled after him, a horrified expression on her face. They walked quietly through the castle, and Caroline allowed herself to look over her his broad back and tapered waist, the way the burnished curls of his head peeped over this high collar. Suddenly he stopped, and she almost walked into him again.

"I will send food. You will eat it" he instructed, turning around and looking at her. She slipped past and opened the door of her rooms, standing in the threshold. His eyes passed her and looked into the chamber, before he was stepping back.

"Will the people brought to the castle from the hunt also eat this eve?" she asked impulsively. He seemed to freeze at her words as he was on the cusp of leaving. His eyes, now a deep blue swung to her, seeming to flash a warning. His head tilted to the side.

"I think I might have misheard you… surely you were thanking me for my generous hospitality." He said lowly. Caroline stood her ground, her chin rising an inch she met his star unflinchingly.

"You did not mishear me Milord. I enquired after the care being provided for the people who accompanied you from the forest today"

"And what business do you believe it is of yours?"

"I believe it is the business of anyone with a conscious"

"Alas, you will not find many here, so I suggest you concern yourself with other things. I bid you good night." He said curtly, preparing to leave.

"If they do not eat, I shall not either" she called out suddenly, wondering at her own courage. He had stopped in the middle of the hall, and the chill in the air that swept over her almost made her heart stop. He turned slowly, and she struggled to meet his furious gaze. And suddenly, he was before her, his strong arms digging into her upper arms, moving in the blink of an eye over 5 meters. He bore her backwards and she felt the door give way behind her. He gathered her close into his chest, his face only mere inches from hers, she saw absolute fury roll across his features, his voice low with menace.

"I think we have gotten off on the wrong foot, sweetheart. I think there is a record that needs to be set straight." He pushed her backwards carelessly, and she landed hard on the bed, breath knocked from her chest, her braid unravelling. She watched as he stood over her, his menacing gaze sweeping over her body. She felt tears, hot and fast squeeze out the corners of her eyes.

"I am not someone to be asked for mercy from, I am not someone who is affected by your tears. I am not someone who cares." He said lowly as he raised his wrist to his mouth and suddenly, to her terror, sank long extended canines into the flesh there.

"If you won't eat. I will make you eat. If you won't drink, I will make you drink. You see, love… you are weak, and I will not let you make me weak" he said, and suddenly, he was grabbing Caroline by the back of the neck and kneeling over her prone form, his wrist moving against her mouth. She tried to turn her head away, but his strong hands followed her every attempt. She felt her mouth fill with thick, metallic liquid, his life blood running down the back of her throat. It ignited her veins and made her head spin. She felt dizzy and awake all at once. She felt the fight leave her limbs and sank deeper into the bed, his weight pressing her down. Her eyes swam hazily up to his face, hovering just above hers, saw the blood lust in his eyes, even as black veins creeped out of his clear blue eyes. His breath was harsh, ragged even, and she felt one of his hands relax their grip on hers for a moment. She snatched it away as though underwater, her muscles barely responding to her commands, and reached for his face, wishing to push him back, stop this invasion of her body. As her hand neared his mouth, he seemed to lose a shortly fought battle with himself, and instead of turning his face away, he met it, his fangs sinking into the base of her wrist, two lances of fire piercing her skin. She tried to scream, but only succeeded in allowing more of his blood to run into her mouth.

She saw his eyes close in sudden ecstasy as he drew on her own blood, and she felt the strangest sort of feeling, pain and pleasure combined, a feeling that had her reaching toward it even as she tried to escape it.

And then, all off a sudden, it was gone, and she was left on the bed, hair strewn in disarray, blood smeared on her mouth and chin, dripping down her neck, and up her arm. She watched him step slowly away from the bed, his fists clenching, his gaze that of a predator as his eyes ran over her supplicant form.

"If you won't eat, expect a repeat of that experience nightly. It is your choice."

"What are you?" she gasped, her heart beating so hard she could scarcely breath. He ran a hand through his hair, returning order to his mussed curls, his golden crown. He took a moment to consider her question, his posture still ruffled, though that soon melted away, with the imperious ruler she had first encountered taking it's place.

"I am your worst fears made real, sweet child of light. I am the things nightmares are made of… I am the evil in the night… and you have been given to me, to do as I see fit." He stepped back, adjusted the cuffs on his surcoat, and Caroline could see the wound on his wrist had already healed.

"You will obey me and perhaps you will live the year." Caroline pushed herself to her hands, anger flying at his ill treatment of her and his icy condescension.

"Perhaps you should kill me now, for I will never accept the mistreatment of others, or myself" she stated. He stared at her, and her courage in the face of what she had just endured.

"If only I could. But there are fates worse than death, and you would do well to remember that" He finished, a trailing whisper as he seemed to disappear. She glared at the last spot he had stood, and felt glad that he had left by the time the shaking took over her limbs. She turned her face into the blood stained sheets and cried, and Klaus, already ensconced in his own rooms, smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

**Now**

"That is crazy, I mean, how can it be?" Alaric murmured as Caroline's face whitened in shock.

Bonnie shrugged.

"I don't know, I really don't. I suspect no one really knows, except maybe the original witch."  
"So witches were involved" Alaric ignored Katherine's snort.

"How do you think it can have been accomplished without magic? Stupid man" she muttered. Caroline dropped her head into her hands and rubbed her tired eyes. None of this made sense, and yet, it was the only thing that did, in some strange way. She couldn't process it, couldn't think of the ramifications, couldn't think about very much at all. Matt, she would think of Matt. He was the only reason she was here, and whatever happened, she would find him.

The wagon came to an abrupt stop, and its prisoners looked at each other as they strained to hear. A grunt as the driver jumped down, and then soft rustling footsteps heading around the back. He was climbing to the trapdoor, Caroline felt sure, and as she glanced around the dark corners of the wagon, her heart stopped as she spied a familiar looking black object.

She reached over for it tentatively, quickly checking if it was still loaded.

"That gun has not just been lying there this whole time" Alaric said in disbelief.

"Why would he leave us that?"

"He doesn't know what it is, he has never left this realm. Now, a hex or curse bag, he would know straight away. Magic is the weapon of this world." Katherine said quietly. Caroline heard a scraping from above.

"What should I do?"  
"Shoot him, what else?" Katherine whispered urgently as she scrambled to her knees. The rest of them tense, gazes upwards, Caroline watched the roof hatch slide open, the welcome night shining in.

A dark shape filled the space and Caroline took aim. Her police training screamed at her a moment, he might be unarmed, she couldn't even see him, how could she shoot him.

"Do it" Alaric hissed from beside her, and with the memory of the awesome power she'd felt behind his spell earlier, she pulled the trigger. He wasn't unarmed. The rapport in the enclosed space was almost deafening, and she felt the reverb right up her arm, and into the burning space of her face where the owl's claws had raked her.

The shape flew backwards, and silence fell. Sitting a moment, they watched for his return, and when nothing appeared, Caroline stood slowly.

"I'll go first" she muttered, placing her foot into Alaric's hold as he positioned himself under the trap door.

"Whatever we do let's go quickly, that was loud enough to wake the dead, and in The Night Garden, I mean that literally." Katherine muttered as she waited for her turn to get out. One by one, they slipped up through the hole, and Caroline surveyed the landscape a moment before quickly dropping over the other side of the wagon, her feet grateful to be back on the ground. The girls followed, and eventually Alaric.

"Where did he go? I don't see a body?" he said as they started away from the wagon and toward the edge of the forest nearby. Looking at the panorama before them, she could see lights in the distance, a curving snake of lights, winding up a hill, with a castle at the top.

"Let's discuss it once we don't have targets on our backs" Caroline advised as she brought up the rear, the gun gripped and held low as she scanned the rocky terrain.

As she spoke, she felt a paralysing sensation in her legs, and fell forward, the gun flying from her grasp. The dark figure from the wagon rose over her, a strange blue light shooting from his hands. He advanced on her, and she felt the paralysing sensation creep up her legs.

Suddenly, as he had just reached her, another figure appeared.

Katherine.

She leapt onto his back, and the sudden freezing feeling started to recede. Caroline watched as Katherine wrapped her legs around the warlock's middle from behind, and suddenly sank her teeth into his neck. She saw the dark irises and long fangs and was terrified for a long moment, her legs refused to come back under her control, and then she was pushing herself up and running, her palms scrapping on the rough rocks, slick now with blood, she didn't know which way Alaric and Bonnie had gone, all she could think was getting away from the scene before her, Katherine crouching over the prone body, drinking his blood.

Caroline ran into the scrubby woods near the rocks, and pushed onwards, thorns hanging lowly over the path ripped her face, and she felt scratches decorate the other cheek as she ran without break, her heart pounding wildly.

That face, the teeth, it was all so familiar. She could see another face in her mind, one with blue eyes and a devilish smile, descending into a long-toothed snarl, advancing on her.

She thought of Matt, trapped with these creatures, fed upon, maybe even drained of his blood, a lifeless, empty corpse rotting in some forgotten prison somewhere in this hellish place.

She pounded through the forest, feeling the strain of the last day in her legs as they failed to move her as fast as she needed to go. There was silence as she progressed, and the throbbing in her face finally reached a level she couldn't ignore. She spied a tree with good hand holds and used her very last bit of energy to climb up to a snug place, before she let herself go. Her hands were shaking, and she felt judders take over her whole body. Her teeth clenched, despite the pain in her face, she tried to stop tears coming, choked in her throat. How had her world fallen apart so completely in the last few days. Everything she'd thought she'd known about Matt, about her world and herself were all crashing down around her, and she had nothing to hold onto.

A wave of dizziness swept through her, and she wrapped her arms around her trembling torso, feeling a sudden thirst of fever rage through. Her face was infected, she could feel it, and yet, had no idea what to do about it. She needed to stay strong, to find Matt and get them home but she could feel her strength slipping away. An owl hooted in the tree, close to her head and she looked up, the white feathers were rustling in the gentle night breeze. Another shudder ran through her before she dropped off to sleep, unable to battle the exhaustion pressing down on her anymore.

When she awoke, she had no idea of the length of time she had been cramped in the tree, except her whole body ached, and she could barely turn her head, her neck was so strained. It took her a lot longer than she liked to climb down, fever making her head swim. Her hands were freezing, but her forehead sweating, a sure sign her temperature was still rising. She needed water, she had lost everything she'd had on her, including her gun, and she had never felt more stripped bare and vulnerable in her life. She swayed through the forest, her feet unsteady, taking frequent rest breaks. She cursed the damn owl that had scratched her. She cursed herself for ignoring the scratches for so long. The starlight filtering through the trees had taken on a dreamy quality, and she could feel dark mists rolling around the edges of her vision, creeping a little closer with each blink, to rendering her in complete darkness.

When her fever climbed higher, she stripped of her top layer, tying it clumsily around her waist, before stumbling on. Her dry throat became painful, as fever scorched a path that made even swallowing impossible. She started to see things in the trees, her mother, people from home, Matt. They wove in and out, and weren't real, and yet, they brought her some small comfort. As least, if she was going to die in this nightmare world, at least she wouldn't be alone.

She stumbled into a clearing, the moonlight almost blinding her eyes as the trees on either side disappeared. In the centre, a man sat upon a horse. She stopped, her breath a harsh rasp as she stared at him. Was it real? She had no idea.

The horse stamped, its own breath loud in the quiet clearing. The man on the horse looked at her with a curious expression, his square jaw unmoving, and piercing eyes fixed on her, he slowly lowered a hand.

"Come with me, I will take you where you want to go" he said.

"How do you know where I want to go?" she asked, her voice a whisper in her raw throat.

"Very well, I will take you where you must go" he clarified. She wrapped her hands around her arms and stared at him. She felt empty, broken and so completely out of her depth, not a feeling she was familiar with.

"Will you take me there, to the castle beyond the Shadow city? Will you take me to him?" she asked, wondering where the words were coming from, even as she spoke, it was if her mouth was moving independently from her fevered brain. She was aware that he was staring for a long moment before he nodded.

"What is it?" she asked, as she watched him dismount before her.

"You remind me of someone, someone who was lost, long ago" he said, his tone curious, and she could tell he longed to turn and inspect her more closely, but instead he held out a water skin, and helped her tip it to her lips. She drank for a long time, barely noticing the pain spreading down her neck from the infection, unaware of the red threads, tinged with black, that were lining her pale skin.

"Let's go" she said, letting him remove the bag before turning to the horse. The movement was too fast, and she felt the world tilt, and the darkness close in as he swept her up in his arms. Then, there was only darkness, and the memories.

 **Then**

The first night that the Prince and his reluctant guest passed under the same roof was one of tears for Caroline, and when the people of the land looked out at the starlit sky, the moon was tinged blue, and reflection for Klaus, who watched this phenomena without expression, drinking deep of the amber liquid filling his goblet.

He had dared to doubt the prophecy, the interpretation was cloudy, especially of the part that interested him the most. It seemed contradictory at best.

 _She walks with wolves in the night_ … _the scales do balance…_ _he is not him, without her._

It was all they could distinguish from a much larger text and much was lost in the rest. They had discovered a drawing, almost completely faded, fragile and on the thinnest parchment. A girl, walking in a grove of willow trees with a wolf by her side, on a floor of snowflake obsidian with a large and brilliant sun shining down on her head and a pale crescent moon hanging just above.

The balance he had little interest in, but the wolf part, now that was interesting.

Klaus could feel it, already wakening. He felt more aware of the moon, more sensitive to the wane of the twin globes in the sky. He felt more aware of her, somewhere in the castle, her heart beating, her breath entering and leaving her body, her sadness. An unpleasant side effect, he told himself. Was it her proximity, or because he had tasted her, he wondered idly.

Ever since he had come of age, and the terrible truth of his mother's sin had become known in the land, brought to light by his transformation into a wolf in the very room his youngest brother lay sleeping, and been cursed shortly after, he had dreamed of regaining his true self. With his brother's blood still drying on his hands, he had come upon his mother, deep in her magics, bargaining her own soul to the universe to balance the mistake she'd made, the terrible atrocity she had unwittingly created. Him. He remembered the feeling for a moment, that he had wanted to die then, to go with Hendrik to the light, and yet, he was already unworthy, already unredeemable. He had seen it in his mother's eyes, in her fear.

She had found the girl, touched by starlight, the universe's solution to maintain balance and she had tied them together. The only person who knew her real importance was rotting in the ground, placed there the very same night she'd cursed him.

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The next morning, Caroline quaked at the thought of the day. How she longed to hide in bed and weep away the hours, already missing her ignorance of the previous morning. But she had to get up and try and help those people, somehow, and she had to eat, and make sure someone saw, because she would do anything to avoid his molestation.

She was only just reaching her legs to the floor, strangely rejuvenated despite a restless night when the door to her sanctuary flew open. An army of servant girls swept in, several bearing a large bath between them, others carrying steaming water, and more still with food and empty valises.

Caroline looked in confusion at their purposeful bustle.

"Excuse me, may I check you are in the correct room?" she tentatively asked a young girl who had thrown open her meagre wardrobe and staring aghast at the contents.

"Do not address the help, that is my duty, you are not the Lady of this castle" an imperious tone rang out, and Caroline saw the Lady from the hunt, blonde and regal entering her room. Caroline cast quickly around for a shawl, pulling the threadbare fabric over her shoulders before dropping into a curtsey. The blonde stopped and stared at her, a wrinkle of distaste on her brow.

"He told me you did that. It is best stopped now, it's confusing for the servants. They must have their hierarchy" she said, her judging gaze travelling down Caroline's clothes, her eyes lingering a little longer on her blood tangled hair and gown.

"He did not happen to mention other pertinent facts pertaining to last eve I see, though, not to worry, I doubt the incident will repeat itself. My brother has quite the short attention span for Ladies"

"A relief for them no doubt" Caroline said, without thought, her eyes snapping to the girl who had arched a, elegant brow at her, her mouth curving in the very barest of smiles.

"Quite. Now if we can get on with the business at hand. You are being moved to another wing of the castle, so please bathe and we can get started." She said as she started out the door.

"I'm Caroline, by the way" Caroline called, all her knowledge of manners and decorum quite forgotten in the moment.

"I am Lady Mikaelson. You may address me as Lady Rebekah."

Caroline stood at the window of her new rooms, and stared out at the high moon, casting its ethereal light on the hills of the distance, thickly carpeted with pines. The hills of home, and how she wished she were there. Afternoon was falling into night, and she was grateful the confusing day was coming to an end, a subtle shift in The Night Garden, and yet, once accustomed, easy to tell.

After bathing and dressing in a light muslin gown she had been given, they moved her rooms, clear across the castle, to an area awfully like where she had met the devil roaming the halls last night. The rooms were more opulent than anything she had seen before, and she couldn't quite contrive why any single person might need, other than a bed, several fainting couches, three low tables, a harpsichord and two writing desks to themselves. The rooms were swathed in silks and satins of the purest qualities, silvers, pale blush pink and duck egg blues now surrounded her, and she felt almost afraid to touch things, for fear of spoiling their perfection.

She had found her clothes missing when she had looked in the wardrobe, only two or three plain muslin dresses not that she planned to need more, it was just puzzling.

She had waited patiently to ask more questions of Lady Rebekah, but she had not returned and Caroline had made do with following the servants around lamely, nodding along at their hard work.

Finally alone, she prepared to do what she had been waiting for all day. She retied the sash of the simple muslin tighter around her slim waist and slipped off the pretty little slippers she'd been given for the one thing of her own she had managed to salvage and left her rooms quietly, her study leather shoes stepping quietly on the polished stone. Her best shoes, her mother had saved for a year to buy them, and now they stood her well as she tiptoed down the quiet corridors, and starting to descend. The Midnight Keep was cavernous, carved from raw stone and rock, and whole sections of wall rippled with gemstones and crystals. She tried to identify the ones around her room door, so as to find her way back easily. The stairs seemed to be carves form jet and she was grateful for her sturdy shows as she tested the slipperiness of the smooth stones. She skirted around the great hall, with its overlooking balconies and tremendous hearth. At length, she found the kitchens, and managed to avoid speaking to anyone, for the most part, servants spied her and hurried off to whisper in corners, hands hiding their quickly moving mouths. She was growing more and more frustrated when, she suddenly came across a small wooden door, really quite unique in its ordinariness. Upon reflection, she realised it was easily accessible directly to the outside, as it was almost opposite a side door to the courtyards, which made it perfect for getting people in and out of the castle without attracting attention. Pushing it open, for it was unlocked, she found a winding spiral staircase and instinctively knew she had found the right place.

Down and down she crept, and found herself in a surprisingly dry and well rushed corridor, with several torches lighting the way forward. She walked along, ears straining for sounds, heart beating altogether too loudly.

She followed the winding corridor around and reached another hall, this one lined with cells. Uncertain, she walked slowly down the corridor, hearing the coughs and shuffles of people, imprisoned within. She saw the same people as had been gathered in the courtyard. They stared at her in silence, as she walked along the bank of cells, looking for a door.

Her hand touched the cool bars, and just when one suddenly gave way, a concealed door, she suddenly heard loud and purposeful footsteps.

She pushed the door open.

"Quick, escape as you will, someone is coming" she whispered urgently. The people within looked uncertainly at the open door, before they were moving toward it quickly. They filed out, some breaking into a run as they reached the corridor, pulling others along. Down the hall, she saw guards appear, clad in the same black and red, with the wolf insignia she had come to recognise as Lord Niklaus' emblem. And then, between him, the devil himself appeared. He paused a moment, his eyes taking in the scene before him, his face an unreadable mask. A dozen captives free and streaming away, running up the hall, and Caroline, his meek and terrified guest standing in between them.

"Stop! In the name of the Prince!" one of the guards demanded, causing a renewed rush in the hall. Klaus cursed the guard's stupidity while noticing a rather burly looking man looking at Caroline calculatingly.

Before he could even think to move, the man had swept her up by the waist and was now holding her, back away, his eyes fixed on Klaus.

"Come no closer, or your immortal whore will pay for it." The man growled. Klaus adopted a nonchalant pose.

"She is neither a whore nor mine, and therefore your threats are meaningless" he said, his tone light, belying the readiness coiled in his muscles to act.

"Shall we test that claim?" the man asked tauntingly. Klaus looked to Caroline, seeing her blue eyes frozen in fear, her gaze turning to him. Klaus flicked his hand.

"Go ahead, and lose your leverage" the man seemed to debate for a moment, and then, turned to Caroline, his face morphing hideously, his mouth lengthening into a snout, and his teeth elongating. As Klaus closed the distance, quick to act on the man's miscalculation, he saw those poisonous canines pierce the smooth flesh of her neck. She screamed and it raised all the hair on his body as he reached the man, his hand going straight into his chest as the other caught Caroline in her rough descent.

As she met the floor, she pushed herself away from him, her hand going to her neck, trying to stop the flow of blood as she looked in horror at him, and the man lying on the floor. Klaus knew how his face must look, his eyes feral and wolfishly golden, and the black lines of blood lust framing them from the smell of her sweet blood filling the air. His hand, almost to the elbow, was bathed in blood, and his hand held the heart of the man, ripped from a cavity that was gruesome even to him, as the man lay dead on the floor beside her. Caroline tore her eyes from the body, and looked to him, and almost flinched at the look in her eyes. Pure, unadulterated fear and shock.

"Are you pleased with the consequences of your kindness, my dear?" he said savagely, before turning to the guards.

"Hunt them down, kill those who give you trouble" he instructed as he stepped closer to Caroline.

"No! Don't hurt them. It is my fault" she said, brave and foolishly selfless even now. He looked down at her curiously, as she wrapped another hand to her neck, the blood seeping between her fingers. He crouched down on his haunches before her, enjoying the way she stiffened at his nearness. How very annoyingly good she was, to be fighting for these worthless people, one of whom had just attacked her.

"Yes, indeed it is." He said cruelly. He reached out a blood-stained hand and pushed back a lock of her brilliant hair, seeing her flinch further still from his hands.

"And if they are to go unpunished, who will answer for their misdeed?" she was trying to still her breathing, her trembling chest, he could hear how fast her heart was beating, but still she looked up at him, tremulous eyes a blaze with compassion.

"I will. I will answer for it"

"You will take your own punishment, and theirs, just to be clear" he said quietly, as the guards shifted behind them, waiting for instruction. He held his gaze a moment longer, and then nodded.

He glanced at the guards and signalled to them, letting them rush off to see to his bidding. He turned back to Caroline, his hand cupping her cheek, deliberately using the blood stained one, to frighten her further. There was something about seeing his unwilling guest, full of sunshine and goodness, stained with blood that had been shed because of her that he found deliciously intriguing.

"How very foolish, sweetheart" he said, lingering a moment more, before standing up and stepping back.

"That bite is poison to supernatural beings, so, you should be feeling the effects in a couple of hours. I'm afraid your punishment starts now" he said coldly, as he turned and started away. She made no sound as he left, and again, that flicker of curiosity tugged at him. She was young, and naïve, foolishly optimistic and trusting, and yet, she was also brave, and loyal. He could respect that, begrudgingly, though he wondered how long the Midnight Keep would take to knock that light out of her, how quickly her proximity to him would taint her soul. He might resent her, and her role, resent that fact that he was burdened with her at all, a means of his mothers to limit his potential, but that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun with her, while she lasted.

He ascended the dungeon stairs lightly, leaving Caroline below.


	12. Chapter 12

Then

The canvas before him was streaked with gold and black, a touch of sky blue. He had barely noticed what he was creating, as always, painting soothed his anger and disappointment. Was the girl a disappointment? He supposed she was. Knowing he needed her by his side if he was ever to regain his full destiny rankled, but at least she might be more agreeable, or should he say, less agreeable.

More wicked and scheming, more selfish and self-serving, more like him, easier to predict, to understand, that would have been a relief. Instead, she may as well be from another world, for he saw no part of her that came close to the dark and twisted things he was. And he was stuck with her, in a way she hadn't even realised yet, and the smallest part of him dreaded her reaction when she found out.

He had hardly cared about public opinion, and cared little for that of friends or family either, as few of those as he had left. The thought of the girl casting judgement on him however, and that judgement being unfavourable left him clenching his jaw and slashing black across the pale, ethereal colours he had unknowingly covered his canvas in. Why it should be, he had no idea. No doubt more of his mothers doing. His eyes moved to the hour glass once more, he had after all, only taken up his brush to distract himself from the passage of time and called for a witch.

The one who arrived was buxom and beautiful, dark eyed, with a teasing smile, though she didn't dare use it on him now.

"Lady Caroline is below in the dungeon, and she is unwell. See to it that she is brought to my rooms immediately, and her comfort seen to. I will attend her shortly" he said, dismissing her with a flick of the wrist. He glanced again at the hour glass. Three long hours of the poison taking control, alone in the dark of that tomb below, should have dimmed the pure starlight he felt streaming from her soul, and if it hadn't, the rest of her punishment would surely accomplish it.

* * *

"By the gods, Caroline" Katherine gasped as she saw her friend pooled by the dungeon wall, her throat ripped and bloody, her skin paler than ever before, and a sweat of delirium staining her clothes. She knelt down, and flinched at the burning skin that met hers. She was completely unresponsive, and Katherine did not know how to help her.

She ran back up the stairs, reluctantly leaving her alone again in the dark, and looked wildly around for aid. She spotted a kitchen boy, and grasped his arm.

"Come, you must help me, I am on the Princes' errand and I require aid. Between the two of us, perhaps we can manage it" she muttered, dragging the protesting lad in the direction of the stairs.

"Perhaps I may serve better in the way of assistance" a deep voice said and Katherine turned her head to find Lord Elijah standing not one meter away, his handsome features wreathed in pleasant well-mannered concern. She looked him up and down appraisingly, making no effort to hide her study and nodded.

"Yes, you will do much better. Run along boy. Milord, please follow." She hurried back down the stairs and rushed back to where her friend had not moved. Lord Elijah took in the scene, a frown marring his features.

"You said you are on the Princes' errand? He knows of this?" he demanded and Katherine nodded.

"Yes, indeed, your monstrous brother probably did it himself" she said angrily. Elijah looked up in surprise at the angry witch before him, her eyes flashing and chest heaving with worry for her friend.

"Careful witch, talk such as that is tantamount to treason." He said, in a low voice.

"Well, take me to the Court of Souls then, just help me first" Katherine said hotly, trying to lift Caroline's prone weight.

"Move" Elijah said curtly, stepping over Katherine completely and effortlessly lifting Caroline to his chest, and turning, started along the corridor and up the stairs.

Katherine struggled to keep up, despite him holding an unconscious body, and as they neared Caroline's rooms, Katherine touched Elijah's arm to stop him.

"The Prince instructed she be taken to his quarters" she said. Elijah simply changed direction and soon he was pushing open a heavy black door, and walked across a floor of polished stone as Katherine had never seen before. The Prince's quarters were separated from even the others in his family, and saw splendour inside as she had never seen before. As much as she wished to explore, her concern for Caroline pulled her after Elijah, trailing in his wake, until they reached a bed of black silk sheets, where he gently laid the invalid. She looked more pale than ever against the bed, and Katherine opened her herb belt, pulling out the usual healing potions for sickness and fever.

"That won't help. She has been bitten by a wolf. The venom is deadly to the supernatural" he said, standing back from the bed and inspecting Caroline almost clinically.

"What can I do to help?" she asked.

"Nothing, there is only one cure, it is now up to Niklaus whether he chooses to bestow it or not" Elijah said, and Katherine felt her heart sink. A tear almost formed, the first in many years, though she blinked it away before it could. She slowly become aware of Elijah watching her.

"You should… comfort her, in case, this is the end. No one wants so feel alone, when they face the abys." He said quietly and Katherine nodded, moving to sit by Caroline's head and stroked her hair softly.

"What is your name, witch?" he asked, though not unkindly. Katherine considered her answer a moment.

"Sarah Duncan" she said, and waited for his response.

"Don't make me ask again" he said, sternly.

"Katherine Pierce. Are you going to add me to the list of trials for the Court of Souls?" she asked dully, fear shooting through her at the prospect. She waited, her eyes fixed on Caroline, and jumped as a cool hand landed on her shoulder.

"Your concern for your friend does you well, Katherine. I will not hold words said in anger against you, this once" he said, his final words a warning, and Katherine fought the urge to roll her eyes. He was really very staid, though you wouldn't know it to look at him. He was smouldering, and if she'd read him in a girl's future she definitely would have described him as tall dark and handsome, with an aura of power and authority, Really quite delicious, and then he opened his mouth, and annoyed her.

"Really now Elijah, breaking the rules for a pretty little witch, my, my brother, whatever next" Klaus spoke as he entered the room, having already heard their conversation on his way down the hall. He kept his eye off the bed at all costs, and made sure his veneer of ennui was intact.

"Really brother, how can such harm have come to your – to Lady Caroline? She is really quite ill" Elijah said, unnecessarily, which only annoyed Klaus more.

"I am well aware, I sent the witch to fetch her and aid her in the first place, did I not?" he asked, and edge to his voice warning his elder brother not to push him on the subject.

Elijah seemed to hold his tongue, turning to the girl who was looking in fascination between the two.  
"Leave her to our care now, we shall see to her needs" he said, and Klaus waited until the witch was almost at the door before turning to his brother.

"You may leave as well, I have no need of you. I am quite capable of doing what needs to be done alone" he said, and enjoyed the matching looks of concern that flashed across both their faces.

"I said leave!" he suddenly commanded, having grown tired of asking, and becoming increasingly aware of the passage of time.

He turned his back as they left without further comment, and turned to the sight of Caroline, prone on his bed, her life slipping from her. He walked toward her and perched on the bed alongside. He ran his eyes over her face, finally free to examine.

Her skin was very fine, and paler than usual, her mouth full and a delicious pink. Her brow was marred with fever and pain, and the way a loose lock of flaxen hair gently curled over, dissecting her eyebrow, suddenly reminded him of Hendrik, someone he very rarely allowed himself to think of. Without further thought, he found his hand had risen, and was gently pushing back the wayward lock of hair, as he used to do, so many nights before, when nightmares would chase his brother into fevered sleep. As his skin brushed hers, she shifted, reaching her head further into his hand, her face comforted for a moment, by the weight of his hand on her hair.

He pulled away, a terrible feeling of bleakness in his chest. Her innocence was suffocating, it stole his breath away. How could someone so untouched walk in the Night Garden. How could someone so pure be given to him, someone who broke things, for pleasure, or out of carelessness.

Suddenly, she opened her cracked lips, and murmured something, and he leaned closer to catch it.

"What was that, sweetheart?" he said softly, knowing she was too far gone to understand him.

"Let my death be their punishment, please… promise me… let the children go" she said, her vivid blue eyes opening to focus on his. He held her pleading stare a long moment.

"Do you really think I would let you die? Do you think so low of me?" he asked.

"Yes" she whispered, without hesitation.

He stared longer at her, his perverse nature enjoying her supplication and suffering, allowing himself those base desires, punishment for his sentimentality.

"I'm afraid it isn't that easy, my dear" he said finally, reaching around for the back of her head, lifting her gently onto his lap as he bit into his wrist and allows his rich blood to well up. He put her lips to it, and held them there, even as she started to push back.

"We are connected Caroline, written in blood, and our lives are destined to be intertwined. I cannot let you die, even if I should wish it. After all, what would my subjects think, if the long-awaited Princess of the Night Garden should come to such an ignominious fate?"

* * *

When Caroline had surfaced from her magical sleep and the tiring effects of the venom and then healing, she had found herself in her new rooms. She had no memory of getting there, and nothing much, past Klaus leaving her coldly in the dungeons, her neck ripped open and the feeling of the venom racing through her veins. She had lain there, in the dark for almost an hour, before succumbing to the welcoming blackness.

She sat up in bed, and gasped as she realised she was not alone in the room. A figure, swathed in shadows and firelight shifted, and she saw him, sitting in the darkness by the fire, a pad of parchment in hand. He set it aside leisurely and stood, stretching his long muscles, as though he had been sitting there a while.

He stepped closer to the bed, and she merely sat watching him, waiting for him to speak. His face was clear of expression, his eye calm as they dropped over her, and she glanced down to find she was wearing a rather revealing shift, pooled around her waist, her earlier, and presumably much bloodier clothes removed. She pulled her cover to under her chin and turned back to him, her chin resting atop her knees.

"Prince Niklaus." She said, in way of greeting, wondering if he expected her to stand and curtsey.

"Niklaus is the name my father gave me, call me Klaus from now one" he said smoothly, and his tone implied this was not an invitation.

"Klaus" she tested, the name foreign on her lips, and caught his smirk.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, walking to a nearby table and pouring a generous measure of rich red wine. He passed it to her, and she took it without a murmur, her throat dry.

"Well, considering I almost died" she said, shivering slightly at a cold draft. He watched her through narrowed eyes.

"You did not almost die, Caroline. There was never any danger of that" he said, reaching for a thick, woollen throw, that he handed to her. It was the softest thing she'd ever touched and she looked at it in wonder, before wrapping it around her shoulders and snuggling into it, all the while, Klaus observed.

"Well, if you really believe you may die, isn't it the same? You still go through all the thoughts, the stages, the bargaining, the despair… the acceptance" she said, taking a large swallow of wine.

"And do you remember your bargain?"

"If you would spare the prisoners, I would be at your mercy" she said immediately, her eyes raising to his. He was caught in their intensity a moment, and he wondered, just for an instant how it might feel to have someone so steadfast in your corner.

"Does it amuse you?" she asked hotly, misinterpreting his expression.

"Mildly, that you didn't believe yourself at my mercy before you bargained yourself to me, for the lives of measly werewolves who are so ashamed of their heritage and afraid of their own power they try to hide away their true natures." He said, and watched surprise come over her face.

"I did not know they were supernatural, werewolves no less" she mused.

"Would you have chosen differently, if you'd known?" he asked, leaning forward, anticipating her answer, his blue gaze more intense. Her head shook automatically.

"Of course not, why should I?" she asked, her honest gaze open to him. He watched for subterfuge or a hint of lies, but found nothing.

"And acceptance? Did you accept your fate?" he asked, interested still in how one reconciled death. For an immortal such as him, it seemed to hold more power than it did to a mortal.

She thought a long moment, and nodded slowly.

"I suppose I did. I did have one regret though, for my mother's pain." She said, wrapping the shawl closer as a shiver shot through her thin shoulders. He observed her a moment longer, the very face that had possessed him to draw in the hours before she had woken. It was really quite perfect, he mused. He shifted closer and sat on the edge of her bed, watching with interest that she did not flinch or attempt to move from him.

"Ah yes, your mother. Did she tell you why you were being sent to the Midnight Keep? What duty you had to fulfil? My little child of prophecy…" he asked, his low voice a mesmerising hum. She shook her head. He reached out a hand, and slowly drew a finger down her bare arm, and watched as gooseflesh arose in its wake.

"You do not fear me" he stated, and watched as she considered her answer.

"Should I?" she asked finally.

"More than you know, but it will make it easier that you do not… yet" he said, standing and moving to the window. She was intoxicating close up, all large eyes and full lips, tumbling hair and the scent of the sweetest blood he could recall tasting. He braced his hands on the stone balcony and looked down at the Black city, the biting coolness of the stone bring back some of his control. Why he should be having such a reaction to someone who really, was no more than an inconvenience, a burden, was puzzling. He put it down to her innocence. It had been a long, long time since he had really interacted with someone truly innocent, Hendrik, his memories whispered, even as he pushed them away.

"Yet? Do you plan on making me? Is it the rest of my punishment?" she asked, brave in her ignorance. He watched the moons of the Night Garden, elegant in the sky, the first, Fala, the keeper of light, luminous and true, shining on the land with her smiling face, and Ecamad, deep in shadow, purples and midnight blues, Fala's opposite, mirroring her in the sky, the keeper of secrets and magic.

"I am afraid your punishment is your birth right." He muttered, before looking back over to her.

"You are to stay to your rooms as you convalesce. I do not wish to find you elsewhere in the castle, it is unseemly for the princess to be roaming the halls, let alone aiding rogue werewolves to escape the dungeons. You will be measured for new gowns, fitting for your station and you will never venture out in public in the homespun rags you have worn to date. My sister, Rebekah, will attend you if you have questions in regard to this." He continued to talk, seeing her face turn a little white in shock as she took in his words.

"Princess? I do not know –" she started and as quickly cut off as he reached her, and she found herself suddenly pressed against his chest, and pinned by an arresting look, hands having pulled her to him in a heartbeat.

"I do not wish to hear your arguments and pleas. You finally know your purpose here in the Keep. The Prince of the Night Garden must wed the one chosen by prophecy, which you are. There is no changing it, and short of ending your life, there is no way to escape it. If that is your preference, then we may revisit it, otherwise the subject is closed." He spoke so coldly he saw her turning paler and paler at his words. His face almost challenged her to object, to fight him, as though he were expecting tears and anguish. She swallowed down her fear, raising her chin a fraction in defiance of his expectations, though he could see her eyes shining brighter with unshed tears. It caused the most odd kind of fury to unfurl in his chest.

"Anything else, my lord?" she asked, she asked bitingly. He stared back, the challenge still flaming in his eyes. Her utter refusal to be cowed by him was starting to irritate, despite her poorly hidden despair.

"Yes, you are to be available to me when I wish to see you. You will eat and drink normally and regain strength, or I will force you. You will wear your hair down, as well" he added, stepping away and making for the door.

"Why?" she cried, her anger at being ordered around so highhandedly, boiling over. He looked back at her from the door, and once again, in an instant too quick to be seen, he was before her, jerking her upright, the covers tumbling away, her body, clad only in the thin shift pressed against his, his hand, one fast on her hip, the other wound into her long curling locks, as he slowly wrapped the mane around his fist, bringing her face closer to his bit by bit. To pull away would mean to rip it out of his grasp, and more likely her own head, and so she allowed it, fury burning in her gaze.

When his face was only a breath from his, tilted at painful angle upwards, his coldly curious eyes burning into hers, she froze as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, before leaning back, his eyes calculating her reaction. Her shock caused her mouth to drop open and he leaned forward again, wolfish in his hunger, he pressed his mouth back on hers, this time, devouring her lips, nipping and biting, sliding his tongue between her open lips. She froze in shock as waves of feeling swept over her, up her and over her, hot and cold, so hot she felt like her skin was on fire. She had never felt anything remotely like it, and even as his presumption angered her, her body reached toward the elusive and maddening sensations he seemed to be stoking in her.

She softened in his arms, opened her mouth more fully, let herself fit into his arms. She felt him respond to her, his arms embracing instead of pressing, his kiss becoming questioning, inviting her to participate. She felt the threat of being swept away by the sensation, by the heady power issuing from the unreadable man holding her, and her fate in his hands.

His mouth moved to her neck, and even though it was healed, the soft sensation instantly transported her to the dungeon and his cold, mocking eyes, promising punishment, as he had turned on his heel and left her to bleed. She pushed away, her hands on his shoulders, her face turning to the side.

"Stop" she said, her voice unsteady. He stilled against her, and she got the feeling he was battling a desire to ignore her, she was tense under his hands, and felt those unshed tears at the prospect of everything he'd told her press back down. He leaned away at length, and studied her face, collecting himself in the process. He watched as she avoided his eye, and then, one solidary tear traced down her cheek, as shame burned in her cheeks. His expression hardened until his features could have been carved from granite. When he spoke, his voice was tightly controlled.

"You will wear your hair down because I prefer it. And being your betrothed, not to mention your ruler, judge, jury and executioner, I'd advise you to try and please me, as much as you're able" he said, the last said with a cold menace, before he turned and let her sink down onto the bed, striding across the room, the door slamming loudly behind him.

Caroline watched the shut door, fury and fear building in her chest. His betrothed, his princess. Princess of the Night Garden, and all the fearsome monsters and evil that lived there. And she would be married to the worst of them all. Her mother had never even hinted at such a fate, such horror. Worst still was the memory of how his body had felt against hers and that indescribable feeling he had created in her. He had treated her abominably, mistreated and abused her, and feeling even a hint of desire for such a monster made her feel shame deep in her bones.

Pushing the covers off, she stood and strode to her dressing table and sat down, looking her reflection in the eye. She looked the same, morally compromised or not. Her cheeks held high colour, and her eyes were bright, despite the tracks of dashed tears. She swallowed and wondered what he saw when he looked at her. What he felt.

She fumbled into the boxes on top, and let the assortment of tiny brushes and combs slip through her fingers. After a moment, her hands came across a pair of scissors, and before she could think further, she raised them, her other hand bunching her flaxen locks. Holding them in a fist as he had done, as he had used them to control her so easily, she flashed the scissors, and the strands fell away. She stared at her lopsided reflection, one side still long, the other hacked just below her chin. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

The start of her defiance, the start of her rebellion.


	13. Chapter 13

Now

Stefan rode through the cobbled, winding streets surrounding the Midnight Keep, his horse snorting loudly in the cool air, and finally came the high, forbidding gates. He clattered through, the sound of hooves on stones the only one that broke the silence. The Prince was angry and there were none in the Black City who did not know it.

He reached the inner courtyard and climbed off the horse, keeping his charge close to his chest as he strode toward the keep.

He entered to find Klaus standing at the fireplace, and drink in hand, his face a mask of anger, even as he barked out instructions to waiting servants, who rushed to take the woman from him.

"Did I not say she should be unharmed?" Klaus growled from across the room. Stefan felt the smallest tinge of fear run through him at the feral look in his old friend's eyes. He dropped to one knee, bent his head at a supplicant angle.

"Sire, she was already harmed, I arrived just in time to aid her. I returned her with her as fast as possible." He said, and waited for his judgement. He waited a moment longer, before risking raising his head. He found himself alone, Klaus in all his terrible anger had gone, along with the servants and the woman. Stefan wondered who she could be, she looked awfully like someone who had once brought the Night Garden to its knees, and yet it was impossible. She had died, and they had all been poorer for it. He hoped for his brother's sake that it wasn't her, or else, he didn't dare hope that he would ever be freed from his eternal prison.

Above stairs, Klaus swallowed hard as he watched Caroline be placed on the bed. His bed. Their bed. Returned after so long, and yet, he had never stopped seeing her lying against those pillows, with the fall of starlight from the nearby balcony lighting her hair into spun silver. He turned away, grasping a chalice from a nearby table and ordered the healers from the room, pausing only to confirm his diagnosis with the head witch.

"What ails her?"

"Blood poisoning, magical in nature. It is advanced. Her body seems completely unprepared, there is no natural defence, which is unusual. Some degree of immunity is normally passed on" the man said, and Klaus dismissed him without further comment.

No more immunity. And so, she was changed, her body at least, from his Caroline, a child of the Night Garden. He sank his teeth into his wrist and spilled precious blood into the chalice. His blood was indeed precious, the strongest and most powerful in the whole realm, it could cure one, even at the point of death. Of course, it was rarely used. In fact, the last time, he could remember was in the same very room, with the same, or slightly changed, woman. He sat next to her on the bed, and studied her a moment.

She was only a touch older than she had been when he saw her last, even though centuries had passed. Her brow a little more worn, her face a little more lean, sculpted planes of pale beauty. More lovely that even his memories could capture. He raised the cup to her mouth and gently coaxed her lips open.

"Come on, sweetheart." He murmured as the blood slipped into her mouth, and felt for a short moment, the strongest longing that she should open her eyes and look up and him, and, just for a moment, know him. Caroline made a sound against the chalice, and he pressed more on her still. She was very ill and she would need her strength back if she was to survive here, if she were to survive him.

For he had waited so very long for his revenge, and he would have it, even if it cost him the remaining sliver of soul he had held on to, the ravaged piece she had left him when she had run. When she had disappeared and he had mourned her death.

There, in the silence of the endless twilight outside, and the stillness of the room, holding so many memories, he allowed himself the weakness of stroking her fevered brow, pressing a kiss onto the hot skin. Centuries searching and despairing, heartache and darkness and now she was here, laid before him, his world returned and yet, she was different, as was he. Two strangers, bound together by destiny to betray, defile and love each other until the end of time.

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Katherine peaked at the Keep from a distant rise, not too far from where they had escaped their captor, and she had scared Caroline off with her true nature. So much she didn't know, so much she didn't remember. She glanced down the slope at Bonnie and the teacher, sprawled at the bottom, exhausted, hungry and close to the edge.

She turned back and tried to think of a plan, but in truth, she wasn't sure she had any allies left at all.

She trudged back down the hard-packed dirt and perched on a rock.

"Stefan has delivered her to Klaus. At the very least, she's probably more comfortable than we are right now" she said, watching Alaric thread his fingers through his hair.

"Comfortable in what way? What does he want with her? What was she to him?" he asked, shooting more questions than she could answer at her. She held up a hand.

"Enough. We don't have time to go through the history of the Night Garden. He won't hurt her, not yet anyway. She was hurt, fading… he'll help."

"Hurt how? The scratches? I told her to be careful with them" Alaric cursed, seeming to nudge closer and closer to that edge, one where she wasn't sure he'd come back from.

"And help in what way? We are expecting a monster to help… have we lost all reason?" he said, his voice taking on a slightly hysterical edge.

"He won't let her die"

"You sound awfully confident" Alaric argued back, and suddenly Bonnie stood beside them, surprising them both into silence.

"Look you guys, this isn't accomplishing anything. What about Matt? Rescuing Matt would still be Caroline's main goal, I'm sure. Maybe if we find him, we'll find her" Bonnie said. Katherine looked at her appraisingly.

"Ok, witchy witch, what's your plan?"

"Well, if we can get in, I know a spell, I can find Matt"

"You have something of his" Katherine guessed. Bonnie nodded in confirmation as Katherine turned back to the castle, considering.

"Hmm, now you mention it, there might be a way in… and we can visit an old friend on the way" she said, ignoring the other two exchanging looks.

"Look, if you are planning on trading us for safe passage, you can think again" Alaric warned, and she shot him a withering look.

"Please, if only you were worth as much. If I get caught, there is no one that can save me from Klaus." She said, her words casting her mind to a dark and handsome face, a noble brow creasing in concern, brown eyes that made her jaded heart hurt.

"I'm worth more to him dead, that you two are alive".

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In Caroline's nightmare, she was running in the dark, with a fear she had never known pounding in her chest, and a sadness she had never experience breaking her heart in two. Through a moonlit forest she crept, the woman around her in cloaks, speaking in whispers. The air smelled like magic.

With every step she took, she felt her heart break a little more and relieved all at once. In the distance, a solitary wolf howled, long and lonely in the night.

Her first impression on waking was the cold steel of handcuffs on her wrists, and the low murmur of voices. She felt her hands were bound, even before she'd opened her eyes, and then, twisting her hands this way and that, bound behind her back as they were, as best she could. There no pain in her face anymore, and the cold shivering sensation of the fever that had plagued her was completely gone. An intense cramp shot through her shoulders and neck, and she bit back a cry as she attempted to straighten out on the ground. He handcuffs pulled her back into an awkward position, and with her movement, she heard the volume of the crowd swell. She opened her eyes, and found herself in a large hall, cavournous really, set up with seats carved from the very rock of the walls, and it didn't seem like there was an empty seat in the house.

People sat in the seats, watching her, leaning forward in anticipation. She fought a wave of dizziness. It was unreal, she must have fallen into a waking nightmare. And yet, the crowd remained all around her, watching her, talking in loud, echoing voices. She was on a raised stage in the middle, her hands chained behind her, ancored to the ground by a huge metal pin. She was chained down, prostrate with her hands behind her back, and as she looked around, she heard the pitch of the crowd change. A ripple of excitement seemed to move through them, heads were turning in a direction, and she felt as though she could well imagine what, or who might be coming.

Sure enough, she saw a man moving down an aisle toward her, his burnished golden head catching the light, dressed in black, a smile on his face as he approached her. There was only one way to describe that smile. Victorious.

He dashed up the stage stairs, and walked toward her, and Caroline forced the roil of fear she felt down, stifled it as she watched her enemy approach. At her hard stare, his smile only widened.

"Ladies and gentlemen, be seated." Another voice boomed, and Caroline shifted to see another, this man dark and tall, wearing a strange sort of ceremonial tunic climb the dias and sit in a special seat, high above her.

"Everyone, take their seats" the dark man muttered again, only loud enough for those on the dias to hear, and she saw him glance at Niklaus, who shot him an amused look, before sauntering to the other end of the stage, and sitting on a seat there. The crowd quieted down, and Caroline shook her shoulders to try and bring some blood back into them, as twisted as they were behind her, and struggled to keep a mask of cool. Showing her fear now would do nothing but incite this crowd even further.

"Loyal subjects of the Night Garden, we are gathered to witness the trial and sentencing of Lady Caroline Forbes." The crowd as split into cheers and boos, echoing in the stone cavern.

"On one side stands her accuser, and she will have a chance to defend herself, as is custom in our land." He raised a hand toward Niklaus, who was looking all too confident at the other end of the stage, motioning him to stand.

"First, will her accuser stand before us" Niklaus moved sinuously, standing with a lazy, predatory ease, his handsome smile sweeping over the audience, who went quiet in anticipation of his word.

"My people, I stand before you here in the Court of Souls in order to rectify a grievous crime done against you, people of the Night… by Princess Caroline. I accused Lady Caroline Forbes of treason." His voice carried, without being raised, and she heard an intake of breath at his words.

"I accuse her of conspiring to cripple the Kingdom of the Night with her treachery, to lower its defences and of conspiring with our sworn enemies, the Mad King and the spirit of the Original Witch."

Caroline's head swam as she watched the faces in the crowd around her, her clanking chains the only sound in the wake of his magnetic voice. The clapping started, slowly at first, and then gathered momentum.

"She has betrayed us all, as she betrayed me, and I will not let her live unpunished." He roared, and the crowd picked up his mantle.

The dark man on the pedestal watched them both through serious eyes, and when she met them, she could almost feel his regret and pity. He motioned for silence.

"Who are the affected by this crime?"

"All the people of this land" Niklaus said, inciting the crowd back to shouts and cheers.

"What say the affected?" the crowd grew stronger, with shouts Caroline couldn't make out or start to make sense of.

"They call for blood. I call for the penalty of treason… death… by my hand" Niklaus said, a satisfied smile on his face, as he glanced at her, the merest moment, and yet, it was enough to freeze her to the spot.

She went to speak, desperate to break the hurtling path of destruction heading her way. Her throat was so dry, nothing but a dry croak came out, and yet it drew both their heads her direction.

"Silence. It is time for the accused to speak" the dark hair man announced, and the place really did fall silent almost immediately. She gathered a little moisture into her mouth and tried again.

"I ask that Prince Niklaus abide by the terms he offered, and that he be held to that bargain" she said, and the audience held their breath to her pained words. If she'd surprised him, he showed no sign of it. Affecting a confused stare, he returned to his seat and shrugged at the audience.

"I have no notion of any deal" he said, and Caroline struggled to hold herself upright, to be heard.

"You said if I came to you willingly, you would let my brother go" she spat out, her eyes seeking his, as he tilted his head toward her, dangerously nonchalant.

"But you did not come willingly, Stefan brought you" he bit back, and then seemed to gather himself.

"Therefore the terms were not met" he finished, his eyes flashing darkly at her. She stared back at him, wondering at his anger.

"I asked him to, I asked him to aid my reaching here, I was on my way… I had decided to come when I was waylaid and captured" she said, seeing him consider her words.

"You have no notion if your brother is even alive" he said suddenly, words that chilled her to the core. She felt a cry rise up and die inside her all at once, but held his gaze.

"I trusted your word, and I took your offer. I am here." She said simply, her eyes still locked onto his. He stood suddenly, and the crowd once again went silent. He walked toward her, his feet making no sound of the marble floor, and stood over her, before slowly crouching to her height. She found she couldn't pull her eyes away, his mesmerised her. They were coldly beautiful and furiously cruel.

"You talk of trust. I wonder if you have any notion how disinclined I am to hear those words from your lying mouth" he said quietly, and see saw a look of pure emptiness appear for just for a moment in his gaze.

"What would you have from me, Caroline?" he asked, almost a whisper.

"Mercy" she whispered in return, settling back on her heels, and bowing her head a moment. She knew how she must look, supplicant before him, travel torn and bloodied, pathetic and beaten, and yet she couldn't seem to summon anything more from her tired body. He held all the cards, and Matt was the only thing that mattered.

"Mercy? And where was your mercy in these centuries past? For a creature of light, you showed me a darkness more complete that I could have ever fathomed." He said at length, his voice, a warm breath in her ear.

"And now you prostrate yourself in front of me, and beg for the life of your mortal brother, and ask me for mercy." He growled and she jerked her head up and looked into his face, and saw he truly was angry. She stared back at him, confusion clouding her features.

"Your cruelty knows no bounds, my lady" he said, severing the closeness between them as he abruptly stood and walked away, his hand clenched into a fist at his side.

The dark man motioned again for silence, and Caroline turned her head to see him watching Niklaus walk away, silently assessing.

"I have come to a decision" he announced, and Caroline felt her heart drop.

"Lady Caroline honoured the agreement the Prince offered her, and therefore the life of her brother, captive of the Keep is safe. He may leave unharmed." Caroline felt pure relief and joy shot through her at the words, so much so, she almost didn't hear the rest.

"To the rest, I find Lady Caroline Forbes guilty of treason, and abide her to the terms of her agreement with the Prince. Her life is forfeit. His sentencing holds - her death to be at the hands of Prince Niklaus, as and when he chooses. This is my decree"


	14. Chapter 14

Then

Caroline left her rooms the next morning with her head held high. She swept into the dining hall, as breakfast was being served, and though Klaus wasn't often present so early in the morning, his little run in with his future bride had left him sated enough he had actually slept a normal night through. He was becoming horribly banal as his marriage approached, he was thinking to himself when he saw Caroline step down the last of the stairs and enter the room. There was always the possibility life could spice up a little, he though darkly as her eyes found his instantly, and he saw a delightful pink tint her cheeks as she averted her eyes, unable to help the hand that strayed to her shorn locks, tucking them behind her ear. The little mouse had defied him. The very fact of it struck him dumb. It was against her very nature, or so he had been led to believe so far, aside from making a fuss about the treatment of all the less fortunate souls she came across, she had otherwise been biddable. And yet, she had now defied his direct order. It annoyed him, and the ugly haircut certainly annoyed him more, but the will behind it… the predator inside him, the wolf… sat up and took notice.

She walked haughtily to an empty seat and sat gracefully, accepting food from a servant. The conversation had dropped when she had entered as people glanced at him, waited for his reaction to seeing his famously inconvenient bride in public. He merely lowered his face into his cup, sipped his morning blood and mead and watched her. Conversation started flowing again when it was clear a show would not be forthcoming.

Caroline had sat near her friend, the witch who had taken care of her the previous day. The dark-haired girl was exclaiming over her hair, running her fingers through the chopped ends. Klaus listened in shamelessly.

"How could you do such a thing? It was your crowning beauty, it would soften even Prince Niklaus' heart… now with your slim body and nun's clothes he may mistake you for the stable boy" Katherine was saying.

"It would suit me fine if he did, in fact I'd encourage it" Caroline said, and Klaus barely avoided coughing as he swallowed a laugh at her surprisingly forceful tone.

"And no less than a week before the wedding!" Katherine continued, stilling only as Caroline put her hand on her arm, drawing her attention.

"How could you not tell me, not even mention it once?" Caroline asked, and Katherine needed no context to understand her meaning.

"I didn't know how to tell you, at first I didn't believe you were in the dark about it, I thought it impossible. Then, I was too afraid of upsetting you. I'm sorry"

"So am I" Caroline said quietly, her fork tracing a path through her eggs, her eyes downcast.

"Is it… so terrible?" Katherine asked gently, and saw an unshed tear appear in Caroline's eye. She felt her throat squeeze with words that couldn't pass.

"Most woman will envy you for it" Her friend continued. Caroline managed to relax her throat, her voice only the barest whisper now, she glanced at Katherine, that lone tear falling down her cheek.

"He is… the cruellest person I have ever known. There is no mercy in him, no feeling. I cannot understand him" she said, each word bringing tears closer and closer. Katherine glanced around, and suddenly, her eyes met Klaus', and she grasped Caroline's arm in alarm.

"Come, I need help to prepare the healing ointments for today. Can you spare me some time?" she said, already dragging her friend to her feet. They left quickly, and all the while, Katherine could see Klaus's dark gaze never leaving his trembling bride.

* * *

Caroline felt as though her nerves might not take another false alarm, as she rounded a stone corridor to find a man dressed in black approaching her. Her heart shot to her mouth and her palms broke out in sweat, all before she realised it was no one she recognised.

She had a heavy cloak over her thin muslin, having no other clothes ready yet, and she drew the hood up as she slipped down some back stairs she had discovered. She was making for the stables, hoping some animal company would give her respite from her fears. Why had she goaded him, if she was this afraid? She had no idea, all she knew was the prospect of meekly accepting his orders couldn't be born. She had never in her life been disobedient, and her mother certainly would never have described her as such. Yet there was something about Klaus that sparked the small streak of rebellion she had found buried deep inside. She walked around the western gardens, skirting past a pavilion full of night blooming roses, a lover's arbour. She crossed a tiny bridge over a small river and pressed on, seeing the torches around the stable glowing in the distance.

She reached the wooden stalls and dropped her harried pace, allowing herself a deep breath. The smell of hay and horses greeted her. She walked slowly past the stalls, stopping at intervals to lean over and gaze at the beautiful horses inside, holding out the carrots and apples she had pilfered from the kitchens on the way. The soft snickering against her hand of their soft lips and wiry whiskers made her smile. She walked on, stilling only as she heard the soft sound of a moan.

It was altogether too human and it was jarringly at odds with the safe and bright sanctuary of the stable. She stepped closer, curious even as she knew she should sneak away. She was pulled forward by an invisible thread of naivety.

She saw the rough shape of three bodies sitting in another stall, this one housing the largest steed in the stable, one she recognised from the day Klaus had returned from his hunt. She struggled to understand what she was seeing, there seemed to be too many limbs, and suddenly, the picture took focus.

Klaus, the very man she had attempting to avoid all day, lazed back, his hands on the parchment in his lap, which she could now see held charcoal sketches. His hands were streaked black with it. Beside him, two beautiful girls lay, their gowns unbound, and Caroline could see the plump swells of their breast spilling out. They were lying with their arms around each other, touching each other. Caroline was shocked, never had she imagined such a thing. They were laughing in low, throaty voices, though, Caroline noticed Klaus was largely ignoring them. The girls were shooting him lowered, suggestive glances, and seemed to become rather irritated when he refused to turn an interested eye to their games. One of them suddenly reached out a hand, and gently laid it on his leg. If she had though Klaus had been sitting still before, it was nothing to the ice that seemed to freeze him now. He looked to the hand, and then up at the girl, with a face so devoid of expression, it scared her even from afar. The girl withdrew her hand quickly, but managed to keep a pleasant smile on her face.

"Sire, do you not wish to partake, we are both here to serve you" she said, reaching another hand up, toward his cheek. As the hand approached, his head moved fast, and she saw as his face, contorting into the terrifying mask she had glimpsed when he had bitten her. He sank impossibly long teeth into the girl's wrist, an unbreakable latch. The girl screamed, attempted to pull away, even as Klaus held her wrist fast. She was turning paler and paler by the second, and Caroline stifled the urge to shout. She should try and save her, but would it only sign her death warrant, as Klaus made his displeasure known. As she tried to decide, she shifted, her voluminous cloak catching an empty bucket, which fell to its side with a hollow clank.

She froze, not daring to look back, spun around, already feeling cold, hard hands grip her from behind, pushing her with force into a stall door, so hard her teeth clattered and she bit her lip. She saw Klaus before her, his face crossed in anger, a drop of blood collected at the corner of his full, pink tinted lips. She saw the girls, both of them, running out the stable behind them, though Klaus did not even glance to see. His furious gaze was intent upon Caroline, and she could feel the tremble building up her from her knees. He was breathing hard, and her own pounding heart was making it impossible to breath even as well. They stared at each other, and after a heartbeat, his eyes dropped to the blood from her bitten lip, just a drop.

"It seems, as you have scared away my supper… you will have to do" he said, his voice rough with blood lust, still raging in his veins, his tone almost mocking as her eyes widened at his words and her head started to shake.

"Or would you rather I went after them?" he continued, and saw the wrenching on her beautiful features. That noble heart torn by fear. She slowly shook her head, indecision and fear written on her face. It was cruel he knew, she would never knowingly hurt others, and so he forced her to offer herself in their place, to avoid her guilt. As though she could be the guilty one, instead of him, the abuser.

"Don't hurt them" she whispered, looking up at him with beseeching eyes. She couldn't know they were the blood slaves of the original family, sworn to provide blood in return for immortality later.

"Who should I hurt, Caroline?" he pressed her, twisted as always deep in his nature, the desire to taint that pure innocent bride of his, to make her more like him.

"Do you want me to hurt you?" he asked, his whole body slowly pressing her against the stable wall, hips first, his hands still holding her by the shoulders. He slowly dropped his hands to her waist, and her little fists instantly pushed on his chest, unmoveable as it was, she still tried.

"Must you hurt anyone?" she cried as he grabbed her wrists and pressed them against the wall over her head, leaving her more prone and vulnerable. Her blue eyes blazed up at him.

His eyes ran over her face, searching, caressing, and she felt he could see down to her very bones.

"Perhaps not" he breathed, leaning in closer.

"Perhaps, there is another way, if you choose it" he whispered, and the warm breath on her cheeks sent goose bumps chasing across her skin.

He kissed her then. She had braced herself for it, had expected it, in the way his voice lowered, and a flicker of blue flame seemed to appear in those unreadable eyes. She had imagined he might, knowing him to be a man of extremes, of passion and violence, or molten fury and icy distain, even in the short time she'd known him.

What she hadn't expected was how her tense body relaxed as his mouth searched hers, how the cold she had been feeling all day seemed to finally melt away, there in his arms. She hadn't expected the way her body fit into his, as though it were by design. She felt him suck her bleeding lip, and the action, so intimate and startling, brought a long sigh spilling from her lips. He turned them around, and brought her down aside him, as he sank to the floor. Her cloak billowed around them as her slender thighs were forced apart across his waist. His fingers went to her throat, laid bare with no veil of hair to protect the delicate skin there. His fingers brushed the skin, and Caroline arched under his touch. His eyes were black veined and gold now, a pulsing gold, and with his fangs elongating he pulled her neck to him. She stilled, afraid suddenly, afraid of the pain she had accepted in lieu of the other girls. He pressed a kiss on the hot skin, and then, all so slowly, she felt the piercing of his teeth, more like a nip of passion. Then, a tingling crept through her, radiating from her neck. It swept like a tide over her, lingering in the apex of her thighs and breasts. She gasped, her eyes falling closed as she held onto his shoulders, and rode out the sensations. Gently the feeling receded as she felt him pull back.

"Here" he said, his voice rough, and she felt his wrist held against her mouth. Her eyes opened as she looked at him in confusion.

"Drink of me" he commanded, seeing her reluctance. She shook her head numbly.

"Why? I do not wish… to become like you" she said, a small whisper. He studied her, his expression darkening.

"Why can you not do as you are told? I am your betrothed, and your Prince. If I tell you to drink, you will drink, or I will make you" he warned, his voice growing more heated. She attempted to stand, a motion quickly suppressed as he held her there in front of him.

"Why must you attempt to control me, at least tell me why you impose these arbitrary restrictions?!" she bit back.

"And who decides what is arbitrary?" he demanded hotly.

"Wear my hair down?" she shot back. She saw his eyes stray to her cut hair, an even deeper frown appearing.

"I suppose you have demonstrated that you are spectacularly awful at following even the easiest requests."

"It was not request! It was an order, an order about what to do with my body!"

"It was a request" he argued back.

"A request I would have considered, an order I cannot. Haven't you ever been ordered around by someone so much more… powerful than you, haven't you ever lost agency? No, I suppose the great Prince Niklaus has never felt powerless before" she said, writhing now to get up, to get away from the man who still, she could come no closer to understanding. He held her there, her attempts not even swaying his arms an inch, before he slowly relaxed his grip. She felt the anger go out of him, and stilled also. It seemed her words had touched something in him.

"You must drink, or you will become ill as before" he said, in a tight voice, his eyes shifting away from hers. She sat very still.

"Ill as from the werewolf's bite?" she asked carefully.

"Not a feeling I suspect you'd like to revisit, and one I find myself disinclined to witness again." He said.

"Are you… are you a wolf? As well as a vampire?" she asked carefully.

"And what if I was?" he asked, a challenge springing up in his voice, and Caroline knew then, they had entered dangerous territory.

"I didn't know such a person could be. With no weakness, you are truly immortal" she breathed, and caught a pained expression on his face.

"You did not know it was possible, because it is not, an accident of nature, and here I am. The only one of my kind." He said it lightly, and yet, as Caroline looked into his affected nonchalance, she felt a tendril of compassion for him, the very first, tiny budding sapling strand of understanding.

"How very lonely that must feel" she whispered, and in that moment, as their eyes met, she knew, even just for a heartbeat, she was seeing Klaus, as no one ever did. Stripped bare of artifice, or the mantle of power that he wore day in and day out. He slowly raised his wrist again.

"Will you drink?" he asked, and she felt the smallest victory of hearing a question, not a command.

"If you wish it" she replied, bending her head to his wrist and biting to break the skin, with little effect. She looked back up at him to see his approval of her words, of her submission, before he raised his other hand, the nails of which grew long in a second, becoming talons. He sank one into his wrist, and brought it back to her. She sipped the blood, feeling it warm a path inside her. As she drank, she felt his other hand, still heavy with talons, stroke her hair.

 **AN. Hi everyone, thank you so much for the reviews, as always it helps to see what other people are thinking of the story, if its too confusing, if its nudging along in the right direction. I hope the 2 timelines aren't too confusing to anyone? They are converging gradually... so hopefully you will understand the Klaus we see NOW in the Night Garden, with captive Caroline and understand how he came to feel that way, and why he is acting the way he is... In a way the Klaus of now, is a bit scarier than past Klaus, as that was just regular Klaus, crap childhood etc, he had never had his heart broken. Present Klaus has all of that on top of some other Caroline related issues, so is a little darker.**


	15. Chapter 15

Now

 _"Caroline, sister dear… wake up and join the party"_ the voice whispered so close to her ear she jerked awake. Caroline sat up, ignoring the pounding in her head and looked around wildly. She was in a room, the room from her dreams. It looked unchanged, and she could see the unnatural sky outside, two moons shining in.

 _"Finally joining us"_ she found the black mist swirling around the edge of the bed, pooling as though someone was sitting there.

"What are you?" she asked, trying to clear her head. She remembered sleeping in the tree, and then a horse, riding in the forest, and then, slowly it returned to her. The Court of Souls, the crowd. Him.

 _"How rude!"_ the mist said in indignation before swirling away over to the dressing table.

 _"You must dress for dinner, brother will be awfully angry if you are late… he's been waiting… centuries now, is it? I think one more hour will tip him over the edge"_

"Brother?" she asked hesitantly, finally picking up on the wording.

 _"Yes, my dear"_ the voice responded.

"Niklaus is your brother?" she asked, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing, feeling the ache in her muscles, but nothing like she deserved. She was miraculously well considering.

 _"Brother, jailor, tormentor, who's counting?"_ the voice continued as she went to the mirror to see the damage. She stared in shock at her reflection, her smooth and unblemished skin staring back. She was unmarked. It was miraculous. Not only unmarked, but healed completely. She touched the smooth skin, ignoring the left over streaks of blood in her hair and down her neck. She also had been left unbound, for what reason, she had no idea. She stood and walked to the balcony.

It was the same, the view of this strange world, with it's two moons, a waterfall cascading into a lake, beyond the light of the city and stars like jewels shining in the sky above. The night air was soft. She no longer felt cold here, instead the air, a soothing blend of night jasmine and pine, felt like a warm caress on her bare arms, her hoodie long lost on the road, and her special material tank and tight gilet were looking worse for wear. At least her leggings were relatively unscathed, just dust from the road. She was surprised to find her boots were still on. She barely remembered being led from the arena, travelling up twisting stone corridors and endless stairs.

She hadn't thought to wonder why she wasn't being put to death immediately, or why she wasn't being held in a dungeon, before dropping into an exhausted sleep. Perhaps this was worse, she thought darkly, as she saw a man's surcoat tossed over a chair next to the wardrobe.

 _"Sweet thing, I did mention about dinner, did I not? As I said, Klaus would be awful disappointed if you didn't join him, you better hurry and change, it wouldn't do to annoy him any further today_ " the voice advised, as she waved it off, like an annoying wasp.

"If he's your brother and the most powerful thing in the kingdom, why are you like that?"

 _"Because he wishes it, because disappointing him is unwise."_

"He turned his own sibling into …. This?" she said, waving a hand generally around the mist.

"I've done a lot worse to people much closer than that" Klaus' voice made the back of the neck prickle. Without even a whisper of a sound, he had somehow entered the room. She locked her arms around her midsection and turned to face him.

"Kol, leave us"

" _As you wish, brother dear"_ the mist said, dissipating almost instantly.

"Wow, must be nice to be king of the world, you snap your fingers and people jump" she said, unable to stop the sarcastic comment from spilling out.

"Not everyone. Though I know of some who had such power, and threw it away on whim" he remarked, pouring himself a glass of ruby red wine and offering her one. She shook her head and turned to the balcony, focusing on the night sky and not the terrifying creature approaching her across the room.

"Making yourself at home? Sparking any memories? You've spent quite some time in this very room" he said, lounging against the stone balustrade in her eye line, so she'd have to turn away to ignore him completely.

"Nope, nothing, it mustn't have been very memorable, I suppose" she said, seeing his eyes shift away from her, his expression clouded, lost in the past. She was surprised to see instead of anger, there was vulnerable cast to his look.

"Where is Matt? Have you kept your word?" she asked archly. He raised an indignant hand to his chest.

"You wound me. As we speak he is being led back to the portal you yourself came through, by the very man who escorted you back to me. Given that, do you plan on keeping your part?" he asked, and she was reminded of the dreamlike conversation she had had with him in the interrogation room.

 _"I can be merciful Caroline, if you let me… just… submit to my will, surrender yourself to me and I will be kind, I give you my word."_

"I have come willingly, where is your promised kindness, your so-called mercy?" she asked, her eyes blazed him, and he bit down a smile at the expression on his warrior queen.

"Where is your submission?" he retorted, stepping closer and allowing himself the exquisite pleasure of wrapping a hand around her toned arm, feeling the muscles jump under his iron grip.

"I want your surrender" he breathed as he ran his eyes over her face, drinking her in, the longing he thought had long since died, back strong than ever. She watched him back, not with the innocent eyes of his girl, the one he had lost, but another Caroline. One made in a world he had never visited, one who had laughed and loved and lived with mortals, one to whom, he was just a monster in a child's fairy tale.

"I thought you wanted to end my life. Are you going to kill me now?" she asked bluntly, her expression hard, she didn't waver. He watched, transfixed.

"Do you want me to?" he asked softly, stepping closer.

"It depends" she said back, and he could feel her soft breath against his lips, so close had he gotten.

"On?"

"The alternative" and he saw in her eyes, her willingness to die a noble death, over a life of violation and shame. She embraced death, if it meant saving herself from him. She was utterly devastating in her power over him, her rejection a slice through the heart.

"Does death not frighten you?"

"If you mean to kill me, I am already dead" she said, and turned, slowly pulling her arm from his grasp to lean on the railing of the balcony.

"I do mean to kill you. I cannot let you be unpunished. But I will not do it yet, you do not get to escape me so quickly, my love, not after I have waited so very long" he murmured, stepping closer to her, and lifting her heavy hair away from her neck, ignoring the way her muscles tightened under his touch, ignoring the way she seemed to shrink away. Her long tendrils of golden hair slipped through his fingers, and he couldn't help a smile touching his lips, as he weighed the heavy mass.

His warrior queen. Unbeaten, even in death.

"If you had any survival instincts, I might advise being nicer to me" he suggested mildly, and watched as his suggestion rankled her.

"Would it change your mind?" the silence stretched out in the wake of her words, his silence a condemning denial.

"And so you see. I am finished expecting compassion or mercy from… a monster who lives in a nightmare" she said, holding back the sudden urge to cry.

"This was your home once as well." He said quietly. He seemed to gather himself a moment later, and the anger she had felt from him earlier sept in.

"If you want me to be a monster, I can be, I am, I can no more deny that very fact than you can deny that you belong here, in the dark, with me. I will be your monster, I will chain you, naked and broken, to my bed, to our bed, and make you relieve every memory I have of you there. I will fashion manacles of magic that tie you to me, so you may never even be out my sight. I will make you immortal, so our punishment of each other never ends. I could compel away your free will, so you will debase yourself and serve me as I wish willingly, an observer in your own mind. Will that meet your expectations of me?" he asked, in a voice raw with anger.

"Do what you want. There is nothing I wouldn't expect of you" she said finally, his words echoing around her head. Matt was safe, nothing else mattered.

Silence fell between them then as each one retreated into their thoughts, leaning side by side against the balustrade, watching the mirrors of the two moons in the sky, silent sentries gliding by overhead. He turned to her, and suddenly hauled her to him.

"Don't test me." he snarled, showing her backwards so she landed on the bed. He knelt over her, his hands going to hers, and she was horrified to find that he did indeed have restraints which he started to lock her wrists in, high above her head, forcing her back to arch.

"You will never leave me again, not until I decide it, and when you do it will be to your death." she kept her eyes on him as he worked on her other wrist, her mind shooting to the danger she concealed in her boot. She reached for it, her fingers slipping their purchase whenever she attempted to work it free. And then, it was in her hand, hidden behind his back.

"And my dearest wife, I plan to make it so you beg for that release" he said, his hand reaching for the other, and she braced herself, bucking her hips to throw him off balance as she wrenched her arm around in front of her, while bringing the knife into his chest.

It sank in deep, and she thought she would never forget the strange sinking consistency of pushing a blade through skin and muscle. Her blow come to a jarring stop as the point hit bone, reverberating up her arm. She raised her eyes to Klaus' waiting for a reaction, for his death, for something.

He gave her nothing, in fact, he hardly seemed to flinch. Calmly he plucked her other hand off the blade and tied it to the bed post. He then looked right down at her, his full lips quirking into a smile.

"You are really going to have to try a little harder than that" he tsked before slowly pulling the blade out. He examined the tip a little, as rich dark blood dripped down the serrated edge. He then lowered it to her face. She stiffened as the point slowly scraped the skin of her cheek, and down her neck, too lightly to draw blood, but definitely a warning.

"You had your chance to end me, and you didn't take it. As much as you might regret it now... perhaps we should skip all the torture and go right for that special ending... what do you say?" he breathed, his face spacey and terrifying, as he lightly traced a path over her heart with the tip of the knife.

"Speak now, or forever hold your peace, and I mean... forever" he said. Caroline swallowed the massive lump of fear that felt as though it were blocking her brain from thinking clearly.

"Do you want to die?" he asked, his voice clear.

"No."

"I didn't quite catch that"

"I don't want to die."

"What?"

"I said I don't want to die!" she cried.

"In that case, maybe you shouldn't piss me off too quickly, before I do something we'll both regret."

"Why would you regret it?" she asked suddenly, and he seemed thrown off balance by the spontaneous question.

"Don't you want me dead, for what I did to you? Something I can't even remember" she persisted, her eyes staring into hers. He looking back, perplexed.

"Are you going to torture me, and hurt me all for something I have forgotten, for some reason, all because of a past I have no memory of Are you that... bored? Are you that petty?" she said, her honest gaze blazing through him.

"Why should this confuse you... I am a monster remember, a beast. There is nothing you wouldn't expect from me" with the last, her bounds were complete, and before she could blink, he was gone.

As he strode from the room, an errant servant passed, and stifled a shriek as Klaus suddenly grabbed the and threw them against he wall, tray clattering to the ground.

"Who was that for ?" he demanded.

"Princess - I mean... the prisoner" the man stuttered as he attempted to pick up the food, and Klaus stepped over him.

"Leave it. Let her starve" he commanded as he walked away.

None of this was going as he had planned. He had envisaged having Caroline back in his hands for centuries, had imagined punishing her, he had imagined her sorrowful tears full of regret and despair. Not the fiery rebellion he was recieving from the stranger currently tied to his bed. He barely saw a trace of his sweet, understanding girl there.

In his imaginings she would always be sorry, she would always repent and beg for his forgiveness, and he would finally come to understand what had happened, so long ago. She would explain how she hadn't really betrayed him, and how she had been tricked, as naive as she had been. He would be angry at first, and she would fear him, and then, in time, he would soften, and she would love him again. For he had never stopped loving her, despite it all.

No, nothing was going to plan. This new incarnation of Caroline was too independent, too stubborn and strong. His Caroline's strength had come from a place of love and sympathy, while this new Caroline, born of a world he didn't know, she was fiercely independent, clever and brave, she seemed fearless as she faced him down. He couldn't say he didn't admired it a little, in his own twisted way, and yet, she was not her.

Not yet anyway.

"Bring me a witch"

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Katherine, Bonnie and Alaric waited until the moon was shrouded by dark clouds that had rolled in. Even Fala herself was faded tonight, and Katherine worried what it meant for Caroline, she hoped her friend was alright. They slipped down a gully near a dried out moat, and started along the rocky bed.

"Why doesn't this have water?" Alaric asked as they walked.

"Klaus let it dry up centuries ago, when he was married, his curse was broken, and he became a hybrid, a true immortal. He no longer feared his father, the Mad King."

"The Mad King?"

"Husband to the original witch, they were Klaus' parents, and the Mad King – Mikael, ruled all this land and even further. When Klaus was cursed, a war began, most of the family took sides and the fall out was hard on the people of the Night Garden. My own parents were killed, and I grew up a ward of the castle, luckily, I became a witch and not a cook." She sighed as she trudged on.

"I'm sorry to hear about your parents" Bonnie said quietly.

"It was more lifetimes ago than I can count" Katherine said dismissively.

"Still… I am sorry" the girl insisted, and Katherine merely grunted.

"Anyway, the moat dried up when Klaus and Caroline were married and they fulfilled the prophecy. For they no longer fear attack from Mikael, and to be honest we could hardly spare the water" She nattered on, unaware of the looks being exchanged behind her. She stopped after a moment of walking alone, and looked back in askance.

"Caroline was the Princess of the Night Garden?" Bonnie asked, her face stricken.

"Did I not mention it before? It's all so confusing, who knows what about who" Katherine said, before turned back and continuing to walk, forcing the others into action.

"So, Caroline… she is like Klaus…" Alaric asked.

"In what way?"

"A vampire wolf hybrid?"

"God no. What balance would that bring?" she saw more confused faces behind her and sighed.

"Klaus and Caroline are the perfect balance, of light and dark, magic and humanity. One is not complete, without the other. Klaus held such power, it was too great an imbalance, and so nature, with help from the Original witch, corrected it. They tethered his wolf side to a mate, who had a little piece of starlight in her soul. Without her, the wolf was lost, restrained. He was vulnerable"

"So, he just needs her by his side to become invulnerable? She could be locked in a dungeon or unconscious the whole time?" Bonnie asked worriedly.

"That's what he thought at first, but it's not as simple as –" she stopped suddenly, holding up a hand to the two behind her. She had heard the slightest tinkle of a rock falling close by, but could hear nothing now, nor see anyone either. She took a cautious step.

"We must hurry –" she started, as a suddenly clap sounded overhead and blue magic descended over them.

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"Brother, I have brought you a gift." Klaus said, looking into the magical mirror, through which he could see Elijah. The mountain retreat and temple that his brother had chosen to spend the last few centuries of his life in looked as uninviting as always to Klaus. However, short of demanding he return, he could do nothing to tempt him back, even as he had tried. Even a morally superior older brother was a comfort when company was so scarce.

"Do not play games Klaus, you know I find them tiring. Speak your mind or let me be" Elijah said.

"Fine. Caroline has returned, and brought some friends with her, one of whom I suspect you have long waited to see again. You may do so, before I kill her" he said, and relished the shock on his brothers face. If that didn't bring his brother running, nothing would.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey you guys, thanks for the reviews, it always makes my day to read them, and gets me writing faster))) This is a monster chapter, because this story is is not waiting for anyone, so instead of sitting on it, just passing it on. Enjoy xxx**

Now

No one came to check on her next day, well, she thought it was day. She wandered in and out of restless sleep, thirsty and hungry. She regretted not taking up the offer of wine the previous evening.

With nothing else to think about, Klaus's words repeated themselves in her mind. His desire to kill her, after she had suffered enough. His need to torture her. She was afraid of him, she could admit it to herself, but there was something else there too. Sometimes, he was so incredibly familiar.

Her arms had become so numb, she hadn't been able to feel anything in them for hours, the stage of prickling and burning pins and needles already passed.

She wondered how long he would leave her there, if he would just forget her. She didn't think he would, he was too fixated on ensuring her suffering.

As she thought, she heard a scraping noise, and then the door opened. A soft snuffled sob filled the room, and Caroline struggled to see who had entered. She saw Bonnie, bloodied and bedraggled, and a solemn eyed Katherine following behind. Bonnie let out a fresh round of sobs at the sight of Caroline on the bed, and rushed to her side. Guards had accompanied them into the room, and now pulled Bonnie away, pushing her to the ground before him.

"See, I told you, way more comfortable than us" Katherine said to Bonnie, though Caroline noted her frown as she looked over her prone position.

"What happened?"

"We decided to come by for tea. We got caught, naturally" Katherine muttered.

'Where's Alaric?"

"Still in the dungeon. He wasn't in good shape." Bonnie said, her eyes huge and scared.

"What has he done to you?" Bonnie said, her sympathetic eyes on Caroline.

"Nothing, yet. Don't worry about me, worry about yourselves"

"Now, there is some good advice" Katherine agreed, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at a guard who motioned for her to move away from the door and knee, as Bonnie was.

"How was the homecoming? You are healed of your injury" she noted.

"I don't know how, I can't remember, when I woke up, I was in a hall, full of people, seats everywhere."

"The Court of Souls. Did they try you. Who was your accuser?" Katherine said.

"Klaus himself. They held some sort of trial I guess, the upshot is that they let Matt go" she said, and Bonnie started to cry again. The two girls looked at her.

"I'm relieved" she gasped, twisting her hands in front of her. Katherine rolled her eyes and turned back to Caroline.

"What else. What was the charge?"

"Treason" Caroline said, the words feeling heavy on her tongue.

"The sentence is –"

"Death, I know" Katherine said, a grim smile on her lips.

"Looks like we may be warming the gallows together."

"I won't be hung, at least I don't think so… my sentence was to die at the hands of the Prince and him only"

"Really? He stipulated that?" Katherine asked, suddenly more interested.

"What were the exact words?" she continued.

"I don't really remember… something like I was sentenced to death by his hand, at the time and place of his choosing" she said. Katherine considered this a moment, until the sound of approaching footsteps sent them back to their feet, as the guards hauled them up.

Caroline twisted to see Klaus enter the room, a contingent of guards flanking him. He barely glanced at Bonnie, focusing instead on Katherine.

"My my, you are a sight for sore eyes. I have long awaited your return to your home. My brother sends his regards, he is on his way back here as we speak. Do you think his high regard for you still holds?" he said, pacing in front of Katherine.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" he demanded roughly.

"I made restitution, I led Caroline to the door, so she would return"

"Do you think that can repay taking her in the first place?" he almost shouted.

"I did nothing she did not beg of me" Katherine retorted.

"You should have come to me, I was your Prince" he growled out.

"And she was my sister, my dearest friend, and you were –"

"Enough! I'll hear no more here. Hold your tongue witch." He held a hand up to silence her, even though Caroline itched to hear more. She had to know about the past, to know what Klaus held her accountable for.

"Caroline, are you enjoying the accommodations?" he asked suddenly, turning to her on the bed, and she stiffened as he approached, tracing a finger up her bare arm, which she could not feel, but assumed he had as she had watched.

She stayed silent, wondering what the volatile creature was looking for now.

"Answer me" he said lowly, his eyes flashing at her.

"It's fine, they're fine" she ground out, unsure of what new game was being played. He sat on the edge of the bed, rolling her closer to him with his weight. He reached out a hand and stroked a finger down her cheek.

"You are absolutely filthy, my dear. It's really quite disgusting" he murmured and she felt embarrassment flame her cheeks.

"You are probably wondering to what you owe this visit, am I correct?" he said, and she shrank away from his touch. He seemed different today, harder, glibber in a dangerous sort of way. He stood and motioned to the door, and she heard the clink of chains in the hall.

"No!" she shouted, her voice a snarl as she attempted to sit up, and could barely move, her head turned sharply to the doorway, where the horrifying site of Matt, bloodied and bruised, pushed down to his knees, shackles on both ankles and wrists, which were rubbed raw underneath., threatened to break her heart.

She felt hot tears fall from her eyes as they met her brothers, the look of defeat in his eyes, the look of pain and hunger.

"Remove the prisoners" she heard Klaus command distantly.

Her vision blurred and swam, and silent sobs were racking her chest. All the torment and fear, the people involved to find Matt, the sacrifices made, all for nothing.

She saw Klaus make to leave the room, and calmed her breathing enough to gasp out one word.

"Why?" she asked, her voice raw with emotion. He looked at her quizzically, his head tilted to the side.

"Why? Why not? I am a monster from a nightmare, if I recall correctly. I must endeavour to meet your expectation of monstrous behaviour, mustn't I?" he said, and she felt more hot tears slid down her cheeks.

"And if you are wondering, yes, it is because of you that he shall suffer, because of you he shall never return to his world."

"I trust I have your attention, sleep well, sweetheart" he said, leaving the room. She allowed herself to cry, hot and ugly sobs that squeezed her throat and tears that burned her cheeks. Everything had been in vain, and now, Klaus had all the leverage he needed to hurt her, and he knew it. She had lost, utterly, delivered herself to him for nothing. She had failed, and now, they would both die here.

Outside in the lowly lit hall, Klaus leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed and listened. The sound of her pain and frustration, her fear and hurt seemed to fill some aching place inside him that had demanded his retribution. But instead of soothing it, her tears filled it up, and it felt too heavy to carry, too painful to feel. Nothing felt like it was supposed to. He went about the rest of his day, but couldn't quite shake the sound of her pain.

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The next day, servants arrived and released her from the restraints. She couldn't feel her arms at all, and they had to help lower them, running blood back in, which, when it did come back, bit like a hundred angry wasps.

Then they brought in bathing supplies. A giant copper tub, and steaming basins of water poured in, with a generous measure of lavender oil. She stepped gingerly in, holding onto the arm of a serving girl. The water felt soothing against her tight muscles, and she saw the dirt clearly on her body, rivets of mud up her ankles, ingrained dirt on her hands, and around the straps of her bra. She still had dried blood on her neck and caught in her hair. She let the girl scrub her with lemon smelling soap, seeing the clear water turn murky as more and more of the dirt came off. Finally, after rising out her hair, she climbed out and was wrapped in several white bath sheets and left to sit before the fire. She looked into the flames and shivered.

Where was Matt, how was he being treated? These questions haunted her every thought, and she tried to determine what she might do to get them out of this. Last night she had felt defeated, but now, clean and warm, she felt a little of her old optimism return. Perhaps a new deal might be struck. There had to be an agenda behind Klaus's actions, her criminal psychology background told her. She tried to profile him, as she might any other psychopath she might have come across at work. Intelligent and narcissistic, there was a reason behind his actions, and just having revenge over a past slight she couldn't recall, didn't seem like enough.

He was the ruler of a kingdom, she was sure people had betrayed and double crossed him before. For some, with her, it was worse. She knew little of the past, though during the trial, they had referred to her as Princess, which was worse than she could have ever imagined. She had married that mad man, lived with him, slept with him. As it stood now, she could well imagine why she had escaped.

But, it had hurt him. Whether it was just his pride that was wounded or not, she wasn't sure. However, instinct told her the revenge for hurt pride would have been swift retribution, like a public beheading, or something similarly debasing. No, this was a private hurt, something he had felt deep inside. If she was analysing it like a cop, she would surmise that she had broken his heart, perhaps the only evidence that he actually had one. She would guess that amongst wounded pride and loss of face, there was also heartbreak, an emptiness she sensed in him, a bleakness.

A knock at the door made her jump and she clutched the bedding around her.

"Prince Niklaus requests that you join him for breakfast" a servant announced, before leaving without a response.

"If you please milady, I can help you dress." The waiting maid said, and Caroline agreed. With Matt's life on the line, there was no way she would defy him.

She put on the strange undergarments, and the petticoats, layer upon layer, and then a corset underneath. It pulled her in tightly, and she struggled to get used to breathing only in the top of her lungs. The woman then pulled a primrose yellow gown from a wardrobe and pulled it over the entire structure beneath, smoothing it into place, and doing up the tiny buttons on the back. Caroline sat before the fire as the Maid combed her hair out, and asked if she'd like it to be put up.

"No, it's fine. The Prince prefers it down" she said absently, and then froze. The words had come unbidden from her lips, and as she had said them, and had known them to be true. A shadow of her former self, a memory? She wasn't sure, but she was sure beyond sure that he preferred it, and she wanted to put him in a good mood. He had shown in the last few days he was not above hurting her, withholding food and water. She hated to consider what he might be doing to Matt.

She left the room and followed the maid toward the dining hall. As she descended the last step, she expected to hear other voices, and was surprised to enter and find only one long table, before a huge hearth, housing roaring fire. Klaus sat at the end of the table, with a place across from him set. She walked toward him, aware of the cold stone floor beneath her thin, gauzy slippers. She stopped before him and waited for instructions. Klaus watched her through narrowed eyes.

"Good morning" she said, before pulling out the chair and sitting. He watched her, a slight curl to his lips, almost as though he were judging her manners, before setting down his cup and motioning servers forward with food. Caroline watched as he instructed which food she was to be given, which was a large amount. As they left, he gestured to the plate.

"Eat" he commanded, and proceeded to watch her closely. Her stomach growled as she picked up her fork, hesitating in the air as she risked a glance at him.

"Will Matt and Bonnie be getting food?" she asked. He sat back, folding his arms across his chest.

"Caroline my dear, you've become so terribly predictable of late."

"Will they?" she pressed.

"Why don't we see how this meal goes, then we can revisit the subject" he said, a warning in his voice. She nodded and started to eat. After a while, feeling full, she put down her knife and fork.

"Finish it." Klaus said immediately, and Caroline stifled the impulse to tell him to shove it.

"I'm full"

"I said finish it. You don't know when your next meal will be" he said, his voice turning silky.

"You could just feed me every day, then I wouldn't have to guess" she snapped, and instantly regretted it.

"I could. But I won't." He replied, seeming pleased to have rankled her.

"What about Matt?" she asked again. He sighed, and sat forward, bridging his fingers as he regarded her over them.

"Let me explain how we proceed from here. If you please me, your brother will receive those things humans need so very often, such as food, water, warmth… if you displease me, he will not. Do you understand that, Caroline?" She swallowed as his intense stare held her, and lowered her eyes and nodded.

"Speak" he instructed.

"Yes, I understand"

"Who holds the power here?" he continued, and she fought the urge to smash the nearest thing she could reach into his smug face.

"You do"

"Who?" he goaded, and she looked back up, arresting him with a hate filled look.

"You do, my Prince" she all but spat. He smirked, patting her hand, and filling her with an impotent rage she had never felt before.

"Now, I have decided that you are to accompany me to the public execution of Katherine Pierce, tomorrow eve" Caroline's knife clattered down as she looked at him, shocked. He grinned at her reaction.

"Do not worry my sweet, you heard yourself how she admitted delivering you back to me. I shall see her properly punished." He said amiably. Caroline felt a little more of her optimism slip away.

"I don't want her punished" she said.

"Oh, I'm not punishing her for that, I am punishing her for her role in the whole mess involving you before. That, I cannot forgive" he said mildly, sipping his tea and watching out the corner of his eye of Caroline's knuckles turned white on her knife. He wondered if she was considering stabbing him again.

"Please. Do not hurt her. I… I can take her punishment" she said softly, looking up at him through lowered lashes. He was arrested by that statement, he sat forward and gazed at her. It was as though his memory had come to life for a moment.

"What will happen to your brother then? Without you to plead his case? You'd leave him alone here?"

Caroline shook her head. She couldn't do that, couldn't leave Matt, no matter how she might feel for Katherine.

"This meal has been successful. Perhaps in a few days, if you can continue to be solicitous, I will ensure your brother is fed."

"A few days?!" she said, shooting to her feet as he made to leave the table. He shot her an infuriating glance.

"Would you prefer a few weeks?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her. She shook her head firmly.

"Well then, don't test me. You tried it once and you failed. You were outmanoeuvred. Don't be a sore loser" he murmured, stepping past her leaving the hall.

"Return to our rooms, and await me there" he instructed, and she followed a servant back in the direction of the rooms, her hands clenched into fists the entire time.

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Katherine followed the guard through the halls of the palace, watching for someone to appear around every corner and attack her. Klaus wanted her afraid, and he had achieved it. She had no idea where he was taking her now, but she dreaded arriving at her destination. An iron door loomed, and in the family part of the castle. She swallowed hard. The guard opened the door and pushed her inside, before stepping out and locking the door behind her. She was almost afraid to look around, for what she would see. The room was luxurious but Spartan, and suddenly, achingly familiar. She frowned, wondering at the purpose of this trip down memory lane, when a shadow moved in the corner. She raised her eyes to the figure, and then without warning, without bluster or bravado, sarcasm or wit, Katherine Pierce began to cry.

Elijah crossed the quickly, and gathered her shaking body into his arms.

"Shhh… do not weep, Katherine, all will be well" he said, even though he didn't quite believe it. Katherine pulled away and looked up at him, her gaze wondrous.

"I'm not crying because I'm sad." She murmured, pressing back against his chest, as though in his arms, she felt safe once more, for the first time in centuries.

"Are you well? Has my brother harmed you, in any way?" Elijah asked, his voice sounding concerned. She waved his concerns off.

"I am as well as can be under the circumstances. Speaking of your brother however, he has become even more unhinged. He left Caroline bound and starving for days on end. He is mistreating her mortal brother, and he held some kind of trial for her sins in the Court of Souls"

"I know, Finn was presiding, he relayed it to me" Elijah said, his voice growing heavy.

"Perhaps Niklaus really has lost his mind, the madness of our family working its sickness upon him." Elijah said grimly. Katherine considered his words, thinking of what Caroline had told her.

"No, I think there is method there. Caroline told me of the sentencing, death – by his hand, but when I pressed her for the exact words, she said it was closer to death by his hand, at the time and place of his choosing" Katherine finished, watching Elijah rapidly come to the same conclusion as she had.

"He is protecting her. She is no longer of the Night Garden, her body is mortal, even more vulnerable than before. Now, she is not to be harmed by any other than Klaus himself, or that person will bear the consequences of his wrath. He publicly made it known that she is under his protection" Elijah surmised.

"I thought as much." Katherine said, relieved. Elijah guided her to the settee and sat beside her, rubbing a comforting hand across her lower back.

"Klaus is looking for a witch, a powerful one, I think he means to release Caroline's memories of her time here, of the wedding and the end of the curse, of all the things that led up to… that night" he said, his brow troubled. Katherine hated to add to his worries, but she had to tell him now, so he might get used to the idea.

"There is another thing. I am to stand trial, well, the trial part is pretty much done, I think. I am to be executed for crimes against the Royal Family, tomorrow eve." She whispered the last. Elijah's hands tightened on hers, and she saw shock, fury and worry flash in his eyes.

"No, it cannot be. I will talk to Niklaus, I will make him see" Katherine pressed a sweet kiss against his lips, stilling the words spilling from his lips in a maddened rush.

"No, my dear, sweet Elijah, speaking to him will only infuriate him more. There is nothing we can do, I fear he will finally know your part in everything that happened. I will not risk that." She said softly.

"I have lived a long, long life, without you, for much too long. I do not wish it to continue. I am ready… I am ready to rest now" she said, her ragged whisper bringing more tears to her eyes.

"Katherine, I –"

"Shh, my sweet love. You have been the best of my life, and you already saved me once, though you risked all to do it. I won't risk you again. Take care of Caroline, she needs you now, the whole kingdom needs you now"

"I will think of a way to stop this, I will, I cannot sit by idly, when the woman… the woman I love, is in danger" Elijah said, pressing a fierce kiss to her temple. They sat together in the darkened room, holding hands, taking strength from each other, as long as they were able, until the guard knocked, taking Katherine back to her cell.

Elijah sat alone in the dark afterward, his mind busy, thinking through all possibilities and outcomes. There had to be a way. He refused to accept there wasn't. There had to be a way.

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A day of being confined to her room, with nothing to do but stare at the window and fret over Matt. Several times she had to stop herself from attempting to go and find him. Would they be able to escape? It seemed unlikely, and might just push Klaus to kill off someone more expendable, like Alaric or Bonnie.

At little after lunch time, well, she guessed it was lunch from her hunger, though no food was forthcoming, a knock sounded at the door. No one had bothered wait for permission to enter before, never mind knock, and so she carefully opened the door. She pulled it wide, and saw a man, broad and tall, darkly handsome, and a little familiar standing there before her.

"Lady Caroline, I daren't believe you were truly returned, until I see you here before me." The man said, his speech rich with a formal cadence.

"May I?" he asked at length, as she simply stood staring at him, a memory descending on her at the sound of his rich baritone.

 _"He speaks as though he has no use for frivolities and prefers serious and intellectual pursuits at all times… but then, he looks at me… and in his eyes I see a man as any other, with the same desires, the same passion and heart. Oh, but I do enjoy him looking at me"_

Caroline snapped back to the present, and saw the man was watching her closely.

"May I come in?" he asked, and she nodded, stepping aside to allow him entry. Inside she offered him a drink from the pitcher of water mixed with red wine that was kept in her room, and regularly replenished. At least she wouldn't die of thirst. He accepted, before sitting on a richly embroidered chair.

"Allow me to introduce myself, or reintroduce, as might be the case. I am Elijah, Niklaus's older brother." He said, already prepared for the look of surprise on Caroline's face, her guard going up even further.

"Do no mistake me, I love my brother very much, however, I am more than sympathetic to your cause. He is… difficult."

"He's insane"

"He's damaged" Elijah said quickly, seeming anxious she should understand his position.

"I knew you well, when you first lived here. You brought light to the Night Garden, literally. I believe you had powers in the mortal realm?" he segued suddenly, and she nodded slowly.

"You will no doubt be noting their absence here" he said, and her nod confirmed it.

"I wasn't sure at first, I had so many visions… I didn't know"

"Past or future, running into one, of course. It must be terribly confusing. I believe, your powers in the mortal realm were the result of you being a creature of this world, and that otherworldliness manifesting through special abilities. As far I know, you never experienced such abilities here." He said, laying to rest something that she had been wondering over.

"Here, creatures just are, vampire, witch, shifter, and they possess the skills that belong to their species."

"What was I?" she asked, and Elijah sat back, considering his answer.

"That is not a question that is easy to answer, I'm afraid. You… were a child of light, with starlight in your soul. That light was your power. There was no one like you then, you were the only one of your kind, and no one like you since. The perfect half of a whole"

"Was I immortal?"

"We thought as much, but then, you died, and we realised we didn't know anything" he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Do you remember my sister? Rebekah?" he asked suddenly. Caroline thought hard, and shook her head slowly.

"I'm afraid not, how many siblings does Klaus have?" she asked a little wildly and Elijah smiled.

"We are a large family. There is Finn, the eldest, who I believe you have already met, during your trial. He has a difficult relationship with Klaus, more so than the rest. He sided with our father during the war. Myself, Kol and Rebekah make up the rest of our living relatives" he said, and Caroline heard the unspoken meaning behind the words.

"Kol, he's the black mist" she said, and Elijah nodded.

"He has been in that form for centuries. Though, believe it or not, he fares better than our dear sister."

"What has Klaus done to her?"

"She wanted to leave the Night Garden, to explore the mortal realm. Klaus thought it too dangerous and forbid it. She tried to go anyway, and her reward was an undead slumber, from which she cannot wake herself, only wait for Klaus to pardon her"

"What? He just keeps her unconscious somewhere? Like Sleeping Beauty?"

"If this Sleeping Beauty lived in a coffin, then yes, just like that" Elijah said. Caroline wrapped her arms around her middle, hating every new thing she heard about Klaus.

"Do you remember Katherine?" Elijah asked, and Caroline stilled, the thought that perhaps she had really known the other woman before hadn't really occurred to her. She shook her head.

"If I may speak for her, I would say that I have seen few friends closer, than you and Katherine." Caroline frowned, trying to reconcile the tricking and conniving woman who had led her back here.

"I know, she doesn't always show her emotions, it is a common thread I seem to find, in the people who are important to me." His words sank in.

"Katherine, she is important to you?"

"She is everything to me. My world" he said honestly, and Caroline saw the truth in his eyes.

"She's a… I mean, I saw her –" Caroline trailed off, unable to continue. Not finding the words to explain.

"A vampire. Yes, I know. She wasn't always, not like my family. She is not an original. Just a very old, and powerful vampire. Before, she was a girl, just as you were when you first came here, and a witch, a very talented witch" Elijah said, rising to look out the window.

"In the end, your decisions, and her actions were very much tied together, to a fear for each other, so like sisters had you become. Does that surprise you?" he asked, seeing Caroline sitting numbly, staring into space.

"To be honest, I am still struggling to get past the original family and vampires part. I had no idea vampires were real. Then again, I had no idea any of this was possible" she said tiredly.

"So, do you… drink blood? Kill people?" she continued.

"Yes, and no, well, not in a long time, and not if I can help it" Elijah said, and Caroline wondered why she didn't feel more afraid of the man standing near her, who had just admitted to being a killer.

"And Klaus? He is the worst of all right? You said he was broken."

"I said damaged"

"What's the difference?"

"Damage can be healed" Elijah said, sitting back down near her, and offering her a smile.

"I say that, because I've seen it" he said, and in his eyes, she saw his hopes. She shook her head.

"You're crazy to think I can have any influence over that man. He hates me, blames me, wants to make me suffer." She said, shivering a little at the bleak assessment.

"You have more influence over him than you know. In fact, I have a way to prove it to you. The question is, will you trust me enough to perform the test?"

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That evening, they dined in their rooms. The room was set up for an intimate dinner, with candles adorning ornate scones, and the balcony doors thrown wide so the moonlight shone on them. He had changed clothes, this time dressed in a deep red velvet surcoat, tight at the waist, and flaring across his wide shoulders. His legs encased in tight britches and boots, a gleaming black leather. As he had opened the door and found her, already dressed, unwillingly, in a backless black gown, which matched her mood, his eyes had traced her bare shoulders with a hunger which she now worried meant he was going to bite her.

During dinner, she spoke little, ate little, and let his polite conversation wash over her.

"Caroline, am I boring you?" he asked at length. She looked up and met his eyes for the first time since they'd sat down.

"Has Matt been fed?" she asked, and resisted flinching when Klaus dropped his cutlery with a loud clatter, his displeasure written across his features.

"I do not know how many ways to make you understand for all you ask, it will delay it longer" he said coldly, and she dropped his gaze and looked at the sky, just visible.

"Why must we always quarrel?" he muttered, pushing back his chair, his taste for dinner apparently ruined.

"Are you going to kill me tonight?" she asked, looking back at him, her frank gaze almost his undoing.

"The clothes, the set up. Am I dessert?" she asked, her voice barely wobbling. He cocked his head at her for a long moment.

"I'm not sure I understand your question. But, no, I am not going to kill you tonight" he muttered, grabbing a crystal tumbler of amber liquid off the table and taking a large swallow.

"What are you doing? What is all this?" she cried. He stood abruptly, and went to the window, glass in hand.

"Now now, Caroline, I am sure the mortal world is not so uncivilised that you don't recognise a proper dinner"

"Are you… fucking with me? What new kind of mind game is this?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't know what you're talking about" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Right, you don't know what I'm talking about. This is normal. Are you.. you're not…" she trailed off, too embarrassed to even say it.

"Don't hold back now" he growled, she could see his anger rising.

"You're not trying to seduce me, are you? I mean, do you have any idea how repulsive that is, it makes my skin crawl" she said hotly, ignoring the hardening of his expression.

"You can't possibly be that deluded" she continued.

"Caroline" Klaus warned, his quiet voice more terrifying than his angry growl.

"Because I am your captive, I have no free will. I have no choice. So don't pretend you can seduce me, and it not be force. Don't dress up and play make believe that I would ever chose to be with you, if I had free will"

"But you did chose me. You did love me" he said, coming round the table and getting in her face, and she could see anger had blanched his skin whiter than usual, suddenly hearing a vulnerability to his tone. She stepped closer, raising her chin, looking down at him as best she could.

"Or so you think. I thought you were going to kill me, make me suffer, torture me" she said, levelling a look of distain at him. He stared back, his eyes boring into hers, his face devoid of expression.

"Is this why you are holding three innocent people hostage, using them as leverage, so you can force me to dress up and have meals with you, are you that pathetic, are you that… lonely?!' she said forcefully. In the silence following her words they both stared at each other in anger.

"The girl you loved is gone. And I will never bring myself to love a monster. So you might as well kill me now." She saw his clenching fists, and barely restrained anger. As that last left her lips, she reached a hand out to the table and grabbed the knife there and before he could stop her, slashed a thin line on her palm. She held the hand out to him, rich crimson blood welling up.

"Here. Kill me, drink my blood and drain me dry. But I won't pretend to be able to suffer your company." She spat, her hand inches from his mouth. She saw his nostrils flare at the scent of her blood, and suddenly, black veins appeared, writhing around his eyes, which had taken on a disturbingly golden hue. His teeth protruded over his lips, and he was beautifully terrifying, she felt the instinct, deep and primal, to run.

"No need to ask me twice, sweetheart" he murmured, and closed in on her, one hand gripping her hair and pulling her head to the side, the other pulling her shoulder near. And then, his teeth were sinking into her neck, savaging her there, ripping, tearing. She closed her eyes against the pain, as he lowered her to the floor, crouched over her like a predator taking down their prey.

So, he would kill her after all, Elijah was wrong, was one of her last thoughts as she lay there, the only sound in the room one of him drinking her blood, and slowing down beat of her heart.

She didn't know until that moment, that it surprised her.


	17. Chapter 17

Now

Klaus gazed at his reflection in a mirror, over a washing basin. He was breathing hard, his heart pounding. His eyes were still glazed and he took several tries to focus. All he could see was red. Red on his face and teeth, on his neck and hands. Blood red. Her blood. He finally focused enough to see himself, the splatters and smears of her blood on his chin, the fine droplets caught in his hair. The most precious liquid in the world, and he had spilled it. He has spilled so very much of it.

He ran a shaking hand through his hair, tried to calm his clambering wolf inside. He had come close to losing control, close to losing everything.

He had hurt her. He could see in his mind's eye, when he had realised, through the rage and blood lust, that her heart had become faint. The sheer terror, the overwhelming panic. How he had torn at his own flesh then, pressing it against her unresponsive mouth. How he had sucked it into his own, and then forced it into hers, let a stream of it run over her neck, anything to get the healing properties inside her.

He had descended into being the animal he had become in her absence, not the wolf he carried inside, but the monster she so often spoke off. Afraid and alone he cowered in the shadows hurting and rejecting anyone fool enough to care for him, isolating himself to reinforce his idea of himself as a devil, and an unlovable thing.

For, was it not better to be flawed in your design, unlovable by birth, than just a twisted and cruel man, unable to deny his urge for death and violence. Was being a King and making hard choices not better than being a cold blood killer? Or were they the same? And there, underneath all the other thoughts that raged in his head, was the one that silenced all of them. Did Caroline leave because she saw the real him?

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Caroline awoke to the soft brush of a hand on her hair, and as her memory of the previous evening came back, she shot backwards on the bed, her hands flying up to protect herself.

"Caroline! It's ok, you're alright" Bonnie said, and Caroline's gaze locked on the woman, sitting on the side of the bed, her expression gentle.

"Klaus" she said, her head whipping around to see the rest of the room.

"Isn't here, so just take it easy"

"What happened?" she asked, sinking uneasily into the cushions behind her. Bonnie twisted her hands as she glanced over to the side of the room where they'd had dinner. Caroline raised her eyebrows to see a dark crimson stain on the polished wooden parquet.

"I don't know exactly. A servant came and took me from the cells, led me up here, and brought me in. I thought… I don't know… I thought he was going to kill me" Bonnie whispered softly, a tear slipping out her eye. Caroline embraced the other woman, who she saw was shaking.

"Shh, it's ok. I know" she murmured into her hair. Her heart twisted for the people pulled into this nightmare innocently trying to save Matt.

"What did you see?" she continued when Bonnie had composed herself.

"It was dark, candles flickering and silence, so deathly silent. I saw you on the floor" her eyes strayed back to the blood stain, the ghost of horror written in them.

"And, you were covered in blood, your face, neck…. Your hair" she said, squeezing her eyes closed against the memory.

"I thought you were dead" she muttered, before straightening up and continuing.

"Klaus was kneeling over you, covered in just as much blood. He had… ripped his arms up, from wrist to elbow, his mouth was a mask of blood, it was everywhere, and he looked… ruined." She finished and took a steadying breath.

"He lifted you and called for a bath to be brought. He told me to clean and bath you, to treat you so you'd feel no pain, and left servants to help, and then left." Bonnie finished, as she turned to the table beside them and poured some tea into a fine cup.

"Here, this should still be warm" she said. Caroline drank it slowly, feeling its warmth spread tendrils of softness through her, unclenching her tight muscles.

"How do you feel?" Bonnie asked.

"I feel fine, I think… he.. bit me, I remember the pain. I remembering thinking… I was dying" she said, and connected her gaze with Bonnie's.

"What are we going to do?" Bonnie suddenly whispered, her voice thick with tears and fear. Caroline sighed.

"How is Matt, have you seen him?"

"He's ok, they feed us, there are beds… we are next to each other" Bonnie said.

"I'm glad you aren't alone down there"

"Well, unfortunately, Katherine is there too" Bonnie muttered, and Caroline recalled Elijah's words.

"She might be able to help keep attention off you, she doesn't seem like the type to scare easily"

"Maybe, but I think… we are all afraid" Bonnie said, before leaning closer.

"Do you think he meant to kill you?" she asked. Caroline slowly pulled herself out from under the heavy covers and looked at the mirror near the bed. She was dressed simply in a white muslin shift, and there wasn't a spot of blood anywhere on it. She lifted her hair to the side and looked at her neck, thought of the pain as he had ripped into her. And yet, smooth, unblemished skin met her probing fingers.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"But he didn't."

"But he didn't." Caroline echoed.

"I have a favour to ask you, something I need help with. But you can't tell anyone, not even Matt"

"Of course, whatever you need." Outside in the city, a bell started to toll.

"I'll tell you on the way." Caroline said, striding to the wardrobe.

"What now?" Bonnie asked as.

"Now, we attended an execution"

Caroline dressed in clothes she found toward the back of the wardrobe. She was sick of floaty feminine dresses, she missed her real clothes, and so made do with the closest thing she could find.

Finely cut black leather trousers that skimmed close to her slim legs, and a leather tunic, which fit like a glove, and had metal scale type armour lining her shoulders and arms. She stared at her reflection. The clothes flickered a memory in her for a moment, before she swept her hair into a high bun. The black colours made her skin appear bloodless. She slipped on long black boots with it, and waited for someone to come for her, as another took Bonnie back to the cells.

At length a servant appeared and she followed them through the palace. Expecting to see Klaus at any moment, she was surprised when they left the Keep and walked through courtyards and other castle building until they reached the stadium where her trial had been, the Court of Souls.

"Caroline" a voice called from the recesses of the archway, where people were streaming in. She nodded to the servant to tell them she could continue alone, but to her frustration, he stayed obediently by her side.

"Elijah" she replied, as she saw him beckoning her over.

"I will escort the princess to her seat" he told the servant, and the man immediately left, to Caroline's annoyance and relief.

"Have you decided?" he asked gently, and she felt the urgency under his words. She bit her lip, considering.

"You are… unharmed?" he said cautiously, and she flashed him a dark look.

"I wouldn't say that, he certainly tried his best" she muttered, turning away and looking into the arena, and the excited crowd, gathering like vultures.

"You faced no harm, my blood would have ensured that… even if you had perished, I would have found a way to return you and your brother to the mortal realm." He said, with a bitter twist to his lips.

"As a vampire" she said critically. His lips flattened a moment, before he nodded.

"It doesn't have to be as dark an existence as Niklaus makes it seem. But it was worth it, was it not? To test my brother's threats? To find out your power over him." he said.

"I am certain I have no power over him" she snorted.

"As I am certain you do. You are alive. You do not recall your relationship with him, before. I do, I remember it well. He could not face the loss of you, and all that came next. I do believe, that the very last of his humanity escaped him then, he lost the power you had given him, but he also lost his soul. Perhaps you took it with you… and you could return it again." Caroline held a hand up, a furious look on her face.

"Do not speak to me of how I could be the redemption for a soulless monster. I won't take that burden. He is responsible for everything he has done, for everything he is."

"I do not disagree" Elijah reassured her, though his eyes seemed to hold more, he stopped speaking of it.

"Have you decided?" he asked at length.

"I have." Caroline said with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest, to hid the betraying shiver of fear.

"Take me to my seat, let's get this over with" she said.

He led her into the crowd, leading her toward the front and the raised seats there. As they approached, she could see Klaus sitting, his face hard. None of the gloating and enjoyment she had expected from someone about to execute someone who had been a thorn in their side for so long.

She felt his eyes on her, and avoided his gaze as she climbed the steps and sat in the unoccupied seat next to without instruction. He turned to her, and she set her chin, giving off the strongest impression that she had no interest in hearing his voice. After a long moment of scrutiny, he turned back, and she relaxed a touch.

On the stage, a man appeared, as Elijah and Finn, the brother who had held her first trial appeared, sitting down at a long bench. The crowd quieted.

"People of the Night Garden, today we sentence and execute a known criminal of the Night Garden" the crowd cheered, and Caroline shifted uncomfortably. Nerves shot through her at the prospect of getting up in front of this crowd again. But she had promised to try.

Katherine appeared on the stage, her dark eyes full of anger and defiance. She met Caroline's gaze, and gave her a small smile that filled Caroline's heart somehow. Unapologetic to the end, she was a sight to see.

She stood before the judges, and neither bid her to kneel. Caroline listened absently to the charges laid at Katherine's feet, which mostly seemed to be daring to attempt survival when the rest of her coven were sentenced to death.

And then, suddenly, it was her part. She heard the words start from Elijah's mouth, and tensed her hands, ready to stand.

"You are sentenced to death, to be burned by fire, and have a stake driven through your heart. If anyone here wishes to object to this sentence, speak now"

She felt fear hit her hard, even as she pushed herself to her feet.

"I object" she said, her voice ringing in the suddenly silence. She could feel the weight of Klaus's gaze on her back. She swallowed, desperately trying to coat her dry mouth as both Judges turned to her.

"Who objects?"

"I do, Caroline Forbes."

"Caroline Forbes, do you know the consequences of objection?" Elijah asked, his voice hard and impersonal.

"I do."

"Do you accept them?" she could feel Klaus start to stand beside her, his hand reaching her hers.

"I do." She said quickly and chatter shot like fire across the crowd. The two judges conferred, and she looked to Katherine, who was looking confused, back and forth between Caroline and Elijah.

"Caroline, what do you think you're doing?" Klaus's voice came silkily from behind her, a suppressed fury behind his words.

"I should think it's obvious" she bit back, refusing to look at him.

"Whoever has been whispering in your ear, I can assure you, they've lied to you. The consequences of objection is death" he said.

"I know" she said, and felt her words freeze him. The judges had finished, and were turning back, getting ready to deliver their verdict. She felt Klaus start to reach for her, and took off, stepping quickly forward, down the short aisle and stepping onto the stage, seeing Klaus standing by her chair behind her, his fists clenched.

"Caroline Forbes. The price of Objection to a sentence of a guilty person is sacrifice. You must volunteer for their punishment." Elijah said.

"I know, I volunteer." She said, standing beside Katherine now, and she felt the other woman's fingers curl through hers.

"Stop this now. I won't have it" Klaus bellowed, arriving on the stage. He stalked over to his brothers.

"It cannot be allowed, put an end to it now" he said quietly.

"But Prince Niklaus, it is a law of the Court of Souls. Can your people no longer expect you to abide by your own laws?" she called loudly, and was heartened when she heard the murmur of the crowd swell along with her. He turned to look at her, a look that chilled her to the core.

"You are playing with fire, sweetheart. I could kill Katherine right here, and everyone else inside this room, if I so wished." He said quietly, and her heart quailed at the prospect.

"You could. But you won't" she said bravely, and saw for a moment a twisted desire in his eyes to do just that, maybe even just to prove her wrong."

"And why is that?" he asked, and Caroline repeated the words Elijah had given her.

"Because, that will make you your father." He glared at her, lost for words for once, it seemed. In the intervening silence, Elijah moved to the bench and banged a gong.

"Caroline Forbes has objected and volunteered for the prisoner's punishment. The Judges of the Court of Souls accept. It is done" he said and the gong sounded through the room. Tension rose between those on the stage, Klaus staring a hole through Caroline as she turned to Katherine and embraced her, feeling tears threaten. Katherine rubbed her wrists as the magical chains were removed.

"Why?" she whispered, her large eyes bright with confusion and happiness all at once.

"I heard I owed you one" Caroline murmured back, and felt her breath rush out as Katherine crushed her in a hard hug.

Katherine was led from the stage, not without the smallest glance at Elijah and then Caroline was alone with Klaus. She turned slowly around to face him, and the crowd grew silent again, watching, expectant. Her eyes found his and in those unreadable depths, she saw everything he felt flying through him for a moment., before the cynical mask flew back up.

"Well played, Lady Caroline" he said, and turned to the judges, giving short instructions, before leaving the stage, and the entire arena, without a backwards glance.

"Katherine Pierce is hereby pardoned for her crimes against the Kingdom. By order of the Prince. It is done" Elijah announced, and the gong sounded through the torrent of the disbelieving crowd and Caroline felt the tension flow out of in a stream. She felt as though she could slump down and sleep for a week.

Caroline stayed in the arena until Elijah escorted her back to the castle. Upon entering, she turned decisively to him.

"Take me to see Matt" she said. Elijah nodded immediately, and led her below to the dungeon. It surprised her how well kept and warm, light and dry it was. She walked along the cells, and found Bonnie, standing looking out of one stall.

"Caroline! We heard noise… is Katherine…?"

"Alive, well, undead at least" Caroline said.

"What? How? Did she escape?" Bonnie asked. Caroline shook her head.

"She was pardoned."

"The luck of the devil, that one. I always thought so" a lazy drawl came from the far end, which Caroline ignored as she reached Matt's cell. He was sleeping in the corner. He looked pale, but otherwise unharmed.

"Healers came to tend him, they gave him a draught that will heal him as he sleeps" Bonnie said, and wrinkled her brow.  
"I don't know if it will work. They don't know magic for mortals" she said, resting her forehead on the bars.

"I'll watch him" she said, with a swift smile at Caroline, as she lingered before the cells.

"You don't have much else to do, witchy witch" the same voice said again.

"Ignore him" Elijah muttered darkly.

"My my, the high and mighty Elijah, down here with us riff raff, how honoured, Bow Bon Bons, bow before the judge of mortality in the Night Garden" the voice said, and edge of anger lining his words.

"Who is that?"

"No one"

"Ouch!"

"No one important, just someone Klaus decided to imprison instead of executing, in deference to his brother, a trusted and loyal friend"

"Klaus doesn't have any friends" the voice snorted. Caroline looked back to Bonnie.

"I guess I better go. I'm sure Klaus has more to say on the subject of Katherine." She said. Bonnie reached out and grabbed her fingers with surprising strength.

"Wait, about that thing, that you asked me… I have an idea. But I need some things, and they won't be easy to find"

"Can you write them down for me?" Caroline asked, looking to Elijah for help.

He procured something to write with and paper from the guard's post and passed it to Bonnie.

"Do I need to ask what this is for?" he asked warily.

"Just, woman's stuff" Caroline mumbled, cringing as she did.

"Ha! That old chestnut! You're not seriously falling for that, are you?" the obnoxious voice demanded. Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Shall we depart, there is only so much of Damon one can take, and I have – somewhere to be" he said, and Caroline suddenly realised he must be eager to go and see Katherine.

"Of course, let's go" she said, grabbing the paper Bonnie held out, her eyes promising to come and see her soon. She could only hope it was a promise she could keep.

* * *

Back in her rooms, Klaus was waiting, and Caroline felt a quiver of fear shoot through her at the sight.

"Where have you been?" he asked as she entered, her list of things Bonnie required hidden in her bodice.

"I visited my brother in the cells" she said shortly, before sitting and removing her boots, then folded her legs under her and looked at him expectantly. He watched her through narrowed eyes.

"What are you doing?" he asked, seeming suspicious of her behaviour.

"Getting comfortable. Why?" she asked and met his gaze, holding it. He looked away first.

"Who put you up objecting to the execution?" he asked.

"No one" she said, determined not to betray Elijah, one of her few allies so far. He turned to look at her, and then approached. Sitting across from her on a chair, leaning forward, his elbows braced on his knees, he studied her face.

"How did you know to do it?" he asked.

"Shouldn't I know?" she asked, evading his questions as best she could.

"I didn't say that. I asked how did you know… did you remember it?"

"Why do you care?" she said, refusing to drop his gaze, or look to the side, any of the other signs that she was lying.

"You wrote that law, you know. It didn't exist before you came to preside occasionally over the Court of Souls" she blinked.

"I presided over the Court of Souls?" she asked. He nodded.

"For a century or more" he confirmed.

"And never was there a time of more compassion and harmony in the Night Garden." he said. Caroline watched as his expression turned earnest, a little too earnest, there was a shrewdness underlying it.

"You could do it again, preside over the poor, unfortunate souls who end up on the wrong side of our laws. Show them mercy" he said.

"And you would allow me to show them mercy?"

"As princess of the Night Garden, your word holds as much authority as mine." he said, and saw her disbelieving look.

"Caroline, your mercy has always moved me. If only you had shown it to me, as you do with others" he said softly. She looked at him as though he were deranged.

"Was it me who almost ripped your throat out last night? Was it me who lied about our bargain and never intended on keeping it. You say you are trying to live up to my terrible expectations of you, and yet, you exceed them at every turn" she said cuttingly. His head bowed under her barrage of words.

"It is true. I am not accustomed to showing mercy. I did once... and lost all because of it. My father taught me that to love is to be weak. That the very emotion was a poison to the strong, hiding in the blood and reducing you. I thought he was wrong once, I thought he was mad." Klaus said, and in his voice an inescapable vulnerability tugged at Caroline, at the forgotten part of her that might have cared for him.

"And then, I learned that he hadn't lied, he had been telling me the truth all along, maybe the only thing he ever did tell me the truth about." he finished. The silence between them was filled by a million unspoken things and a lifetime of memories she couldn't remember.

"I don't remember the woman you believe used to love you" she said, a tone of finality in her voice. He nodded barely, avoiding her gaze.

"But, I do believe, she would never had loved this man I see before me. The man who has treated me so. You should be grateful I am not her, and I cannot remember her, or I think, she would be terribly disappointed." Caroline said, and stood, her bare feet slapping against the wooden floor as she skirted around the stain on the floor, making her way to the food on a table lining the wall. Klaus watched her, his eyes falling on the stain, and with a whoosh, she found herself alone.


	18. Chapter 18

"Kol? Can you hear me?" Caroline said, shifting on the bed of her room and watching the shadows shift in the corners.

"I have a deal for you?" she whispered, and light as a feather, she felt something like a finger curl along her cheek.

"Hello dearest, I am glad to see you survived your beloved's trials unscathed." The black mist swirled around the room.

"Hardly unscathed" she argued.

"You look well to me, and in our world, that in itself is testimony"

"To?"

"His enduring love for his little sliver of starlight." The mist settled around a chair, and Caroline wondered if incorporeal forms could actually sit.

"Not this again. Please, don't try and sell him to me. I see him for what he is" she bit out.

"You did once, of that I am sure… not yet again though, not yet" the mist said, and Caroline folded her arms across her chest.

"Enough. Do you want to hear my proposal or not?" she asked.

"Well, of course, I am all ears, not literally of course, literally I have none" Kol said, an edge of cold to his tone.

"I require some things, some magical things."

"For… _the witch_ downstairs" Caroline looked sharply at the mist.

"What do you know of her?"

"Not much, not much at all… but her magic is different, interesting. Mortal magic" he said.

"Is it so different?"

"It is and it isn't. What are you two cooking up? A surprise for dearest brother?" the mist sighed.

"I do not know if it is worth risking my immortal life, even in the name of our friend ship, little sister. Klaus has surely had enough of my meddling, as you see" the mist sighed.

"That's just the thing. I am not asking you for a favour. I am asking you for a trade." The mist was silent, expecting, waiting.

"How would you like to be whole again?"

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Caroline twisted her hands in the silken fabric of her gown, each moment that passed, her nerves grew and grew. She checked the hidden pockets of the voluminous skirt, and reassured herself.

She was tired of being passive, tired of being captive and afraid. She would rescue Matt, if it was the last thing she did. Klaus has tipped his hand, shown her a weakness, and she was going to go for it. She would never escape this place with anything other than determination, grit and the kind of courage she hoped to have one day. That day had come, she reminded herself as she watched the door glide open, and her quarry walk in.

She saw the moment Klaus took in the candles and the dinner, saw the flicker of confusion in his stormy gaze, those eyes gentling as they fell on her, seeing her dress and her expression, as she schooled her face into a pleasant smile. She saw the moment his guard flicked up.

"Caroline. This is quite the surprise" he said, stepping cautiously into the room, his eyes going to the corners, the hidden places, watching and hesitantly.

She twisted her fingers in front of her, aware of how nervous it made her seem, saw his eyes track the movement.

"I just thought, maybe we should start over" she said, the words falling like lead in her stomach, further dragged down by the narrowing of his eyes, before his head tilted, hesitantly.

"And what has brought about this change?" he asked, walking further into the room and pulling out her chair for her. As she passed him to sit, she felt a tendril of his breath touch her bare shoulder and shivered.

"Well, you said maybe I could preside over the Court of Souls. I think I would like that" she said, as he sat opposite her. He poured her a large glass of wine and then his own, before sitting back and studying her.

"You care so much for the people of this realm?" he asked.

"I always care about innocent people"

"I wouldn't call Katherine innocent"

"I wasn't talking about her"

"And yet, you saved her, stayed my hand" he said, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Do you remember her?" he asked, and she glimpsed a hint of vulnerability there. A flash of understanding flitted through Caroline.

"I don't remember any of you" she said, and saw relief, sweet relief appear in his eyes as he nodded acceptingly. She ate slowly, the silence between them reasonably civil, the only sound the clinking of silver wear on fine china.

"What kind of meat is this? It's so tender" she murmured.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked, the hint of a devilish smile playing at the corner of his lips. She dropped her cutlery, her stomach lurching.

"It's pheasant" he said shortly as she scowled at him.

"Very amusing"

"Yes, it was rather" he said, smirking.

"And this sauce, there is a flavour in it… I can't place it" she said, as she swirled a piece of meat in the delicate sauce pooling on the plate.

"It is from a herb, which is very rare. It only grows in the hills and forests to the west of the Midnight City, and can only be picked at certain times of the year. We used to have it often, it was your-" he cut off, looking to the window, away from her scrutiny. She sipped her wine and waited.

"I think you should just broach it sweetheart. I am intrigued by the gesture, but you really can cut to the chase" he announced suddenly, sitting back and picking up his glass.

Nerves clamped down on her again as she set her glass down and took a deep breath.

"Ok. I would like to offer you a new deal" she said, meeting his direct gaze.

"What are your terms?" he asked immediately, no doubt having expected her to try. Expected her to fight.

"You will… let Matt go, and allow me to travel with him to the portal, and ensure he leaves." Klaus opened his mouth in a scoff, and she held up and hand to delay him.

"In return. I will stay here with you"

"Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you are already here. Why should I let go of my leverage?" he asked mildly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I promise I will stay here with you, as long as you wish it... willingly."

"And if that be the entirety of your mortal life?"

"Then… so be it" she said, swallowed the cry of fear that threatened to spring from her mouth. He watched her closely, like the predator he was.

"I will… do as you want me to, I will be yours to command, with one condition" she said, feeling her face heat under his gaze. He stared at her.

"Which is?"

"You will compel my free will away, you will make me forget myself." She said at last. He jerked back at her words, and she saw a moment of pure fury flutter through those guarded eyes before he stood abruptly, pushing his chair from the table, and flinging his napkin down.

"I think this lovely evening is over. I bid you goodnight." he said, and started for the door.

"Wait!" she cried, standing up so quickly her chair banged hard against the floor.

"Why not? You hate me so much you wouldn't take away my suffering? You would want to me to experience every nightmarish second of my miserable life?" she said, her hands clenched in fists by her side.

"I thought you loved me once" she cried.

"I did love you, I do love you. You are the weakness in my blood, burned into my bones, woven into my soul." He growled, and prowled toward her.

"I do not enjoy seeing you, my queen, my equal… prostituting herself… offering to warm my bed, but only if I take her mind. If I take _her_ away. So she isn't soiled by my touch" she saw the darkness in his eyes, the writhing depths of self-hatred and despair.

"What else have you shown to me? Other than a monster wearing a man's face. You do nothing to change the way I feel about you and expect me to care for you?" she laughed then, a cold and mocking tone that froze them both.

"You devastated my kingdom, our kingdom, our home. You have no idea of what befell your beloved people in the wake of your desertion. After you had made me so weak I wasn't able to do anything when-" he cut off and Caroline stepped forward.

"When what? What happened?! Why do you keep it all from me? Why don't you make me remember? Why don't you tell me exactly what price was paid?" she shouted, reaching out to hold his arm as he made to leave again. Her touch stilled him and he stopped. A long moment passed, and then he turned his head, his eyes going directly to her hand on his arm.

"Because, my love, that – that would truly break you… and I find I do not quite hate you enough for that… even now" he said, and she felt a beam of pure feeling shock her to her core as he looked at her. That gaze, it drew her in, it warmed her, it thrilled her, and she felt it. A flicker of feeling, an answer to his searching call.

Something ancient and powerful, stirring in her mind.

She took a deep breath, stepping away, letting her hand fall, and reached into her pocket.

"You will free Matt. You will free him now, and I will stick to the bargain. I promise" she breathed, her fingers sliding over the hidden open razor. Her heart was beating faster and faster, and she almost felt as though she couldn't breathe.

"You will forgive me if I do not quite believe your promises, you haven't been very good at keeping them" he growled, his eyes drifting to her hand, narrowing in suspicioun.

She pulled the razor free, and saw Klaus freeze at the sight. She brought it quickly to her throat.

"You will free Matt. Or I will take my life." She breathed, pressing the razor into the skin hard enough to feel the silky sharp blade break the skin.

"I could take that from you in a heartbeat" he said, though he didn't move, his fists clenched at his sides, his body rigid with tension.

"Yes, you could. But I will just try again tomorrow, and the day after, and the one after that" she said.

"And I would kill your brother, slowly, over decades to punish you"

"At this very moment, he holds a poison so deadly he would be dead within moments of taking it." Caroline said, her heart cramping around the words.

"So, you would both die. You would accept that, to be rid of me"

"To free him, to have the chance? I would. A fast and merciful death, over centuries of abuse and torture as you satisfy yourselves between us. I won't do it" she spat, with venom at the end.

"And anyway, you are not going to kill me." She said finally, her bravado unwavering.

"You have had the chance, the opportunity and you didn't. And you won't do it."

Klaus watched her, a muscle flickering in his jaw, his frustration palpable. He knew he had shown his hand, in the arena with Katherine, and when Caroline had pushed him the night before.

"You will free Matt" she said again. He shook his head, instinct crying against it. His leverage, his only path to making her submit, to controlling her, to making sure she would never leave him again.

"I can't" he breathed. He saw the moment the decision was made, and even as she moved toward her, so quickly she could barely see him.

"Then you leave me no choice" she said, the razor already slicing into her pale neck. He reached her and jerked her hand away, as a spray of hot, rich arterial blood sprayed his face. He clamped a hand over her neck and sank to the floor, ripping his own wrist open, and shoved it between her teeth. She bit down hard and he almost gasped at the ferocity of it. The spray from her neck was lessening, the skin knitting together, and he watched her face, as she sucked his blood down.

Slowly, he became aware of a darkness building in the room, and looked up to find Kol, the mist of his brother, leaping toward them over the fallen furniture.

"Brother?" he asked, his voice uncertain as he took in her blood and his, mixed together, a potent combination. The mist reached them, and a sudden cold wind blew over them, he looked down at Caroline, saw the glitter of a million tiny stars rush toward her face, gathering strength as they touched their mixed blood. The mist crowded in, and in the swirling silence, Klaus heard him speak.

"Now… you remember"


	19. Chapter 19

Then

"I'd never wear it. It is wasteful"

"It is not wasteful and you will wear it. My brother has given me free reign and I will not compromise with a country mouse… no offence naturally." Lady Rebekah said dismissively as she picked up another sample of the thinnest lace Caroline had ever seen and proceed to instruct the dressmaker on the kind of nightwear she wanted.

Caroline had no intentions of parading her body around for the Prince in these frothy concoctions, in fact, she was rather hoping by being disagreeable, and unappealing to him, he might not bother with her at all.

Since the evening of the stable, two days had passed, where she had not seen sight nor sign of him. It felt odd, considering what she felt had passed between them in the quiet stables. She was told he had other business, elsewhere in the kingdom, but would be back this evening.

People from far and wide had started arriving for the ceremony, and Caroline felt even more keenly, the absence of her own mother. So much so, in fact, today, as soon as she was able to slip away, she had devised a plan.

She caught Rebekah's appraising gaze on her, and attempted a smile, concealing her thoughts.

"You need not be nervous about the wedding, my brother can be perceived to be a little frightening, a little twisted perhaps, but he is nothing he had not been made. For what it is worth, I do not believe he will hurt you." Rebekah said, coming to sit beside Caroline and waving away the seamstress.

"He has told me as much, that he cannot kill me, not if he ever wants to regain the wolf inside." She said, twisting her fingers in her lap.

"I see he has not become wiser in the ways of woman or seduction since we were children." Rebekah sighed, turning Caroline to the looking glass beside them, and touching the sides of her face, stroking her hair down, as short as it was, brushing her chin.

"What do you see?"

"Well, I see myself of course… just, plain old Caroline, with a lot less hair" she attempted to joke at the end.

"Yes indeed, you are to blame for half the court cutting their hair to stay in fashion and favour, they assume you had the Princes' approval for such an action" Caroline shivered at the thought of a life where a decision over her own body needed Klaus's approval.

"What do you think my brother sees?" Rebekah continued, holding Caroline's gaze in the mirror. Caroline frowned, trying to see where Rebekah might be leading them, trying to guess her mind. She shrugged.

"A burden, a curse to be born. A bag of blood" She muttered, and saw Rebekah shaking her head.

"I know my brother, and I have seen him with countless ladies. You are not like them" she said, and Caroline felt her cheeks redden.

"I know, I am hardly court material" she agreed.

"No, indeed you are not. You are not practiced in subterfuge or false promises. You do not practice lying with a smile, or using your leverage over another to gain confidences. You do not care that Klaus is a Prince, ruler of our land." Rebekah was saying, her fingers still holding Caroline's chin, forcing her to see herself in the mirror, as her words rolled over her.

"You care about the common man, you cry with the bereaved and you suffer with the ill, you listen to them, you talk to them… you are their princess." Rebekah said and Caroline's eyes shot to hers in the mirror, the surprise in them clear.

'My brother is not an easy man to love, this I know. But if someone like you can love him, then, well, then you just might save us all"

Rebekah held her gaze a moment longer, before blinking and stepping away, waving the seamstress back.

"My advice, do not look at the man Klaus wants you to see… look at the man behind the mask, the one he hides. There you will find someone to love, someone who has been waiting a long time for that very thing."

* * *

The seamstress at last departed, and Caroline collected her carefully gathered provisions. She put on her cloak, her walking shoes and a bag with some bread, cheese and two apples. A wineskin completed her travelling snacks, and she snuck to the stables. It was quiet, as always there, and the old groom who tended the excellently behaved horses was dozing after his late breakfast. She quickly saddled a docile looking mare and led her out the paddock. She pulled her hood up, kept her head down, and made her way out of the Midnight Keep. There were guards at the gate, but no one tried to stop her as she went past, eyes fixed on the distance, trying to convey an important and ordinary purpose. Few people had really seen her, as much as she had kept to her rooms, and as long as she covered her hair, now famed throughout the city as the mark of the Princess.

She wound through the city on the hill, descending gradually, and pleasantly surprised to see so many living peacefully side by side, supernatural creatures, and those more ordinary. They seemed to be living well in the capital, and she enjoyed the pleasant thriving atmosphere of market day, until she finally reached the outer walls.

Again, she went by unimpeded by guards, though the crowd through the gates was thick here, and she was but one slight woman.

Once she had walked a far distance from the city walls, onto a broad road, well paved and generaous, she climbed aboard the horse. The mare obligingly started plodding along the way she wished, and Caroline allowed herself a small thrill at her success. Soon, she would be with her mother, and all being well, would bring her back to the keep with her, perhaps once there, she might decide to stay, and if Klaus allowed it. She couldn't stop her smile from spreading at the prospect.

The afternoon passed slowly as she rode along, and soon she recognised a turning in the road ahead. It forked off in two directions, one of which was still wide and open, leading to the nearest port city. The other she didn't see a single soul on, turning in toward the West of the Kingdom. She took the smaller and her anticipation grew with every step. She hummed to herself lightly, so caught in imagining her mother's face, she failed to hear the slight rustle of footsteps, keeping pace alongside her in the forest.

* * *

The day grew long, and the shadows started to lengthen. Recognising a particular stretch of woods, where the foliage grew denser and closer to the road, Caroline steeled herself, but pushed on. If she hadn't stopped to help an old man and his broken cart wheel she would have been past here long before, but she couldn't have left him in the mud.

Silence pressed in, and after a long moment, she became aware that only the sound of her horse walking, the gentle jingle of the harness and comforting breath sounded in the silence. The rest of the forest had fallen silent.

She pressed on, her eyes darting to the darkness peeping through the foliage on either side of the road.

A twig snapped in the underbrush. She stopped for a moment, her heart starting to pound. The horse snorted and stamped, as eager as her to get out of this narrow pass. She spurred him on, wondering if they might not gallop through and be done with it. Even as she was gathering the reins to do just that, a deer shot out in front of the horse, faster than she could track, a blur of long graceful legs and quivering haunches.

The horse reared, as surprised as she was, as the deer barely skimmed its front hooves before darting into the forest on the otherside of the road. Caroline grasped the reins to hold on, but the backwards motion of the horse swept over her, and she felt her grip falter.

She fell backwards hard, meeting the floor with a hard thump as the horse took off up the path, her supplies with it. She watched it go, despair and worry warring in her. She'd never reach home tonight now, never mind make it back to the Keep in time to stop anyone looking for her. She let her arms collapse with a huff and lay back on the dry forest floor, looking up at the stars. What a fine mess, she thought to herself, the last normal thought she had before she registered the sound of crunching near her head.

Crunching footsteps.

She shot to her feet and whirled, just as the man appeared in the road behind her. He was dressed in black leathers, stained with age and use, his coal black hair glinted as his icy silver eyes met hers. His cruel lips curved in a smile that was more snarl as he looked her up and down.

"Nice day for a walk, isn't it? What are you doing wandering in the forest, Blondie?" he asked. She swallowed, determined not to show her fear.

"I am visiting family, I have journeyed from the Midnight Keep." She said, her voice strong, crossing her arms over her chest. He watched her determinedly nonchalant stance before smirking.

"I see… an esteemed guest of the Original family are we? Or perhaps something else… kitchen maid? Blood slave? Castle courtesan?" he asked, stepping a little closer.

"I know not what you mean, but I am a resident of the Keep, and Prince Niklaus will not be happy to know you have delayed my journey" she said, wondering at herself invoking his name in order to feel safer. What a topsy turvy world hers had become of late.

"Oh, Prince Niklaus will not be pleased… interesting. I have yet to find something he actually values, except himself and his siblings, and even then, it's a passing interest at best." Carline blinked, and stifled a cry as she found the man suddenly standing before her, his hands encircling her upper arms in a hard grip.

"Perhaps we should test the theory" he said, a wicked grin curving his lips, and a flash of long incisors appearing.

Everything in Caroline rebelled, against the memory of the pain of Klaus's bite, and the pleasure of it, hidden in the intimacy it implied. She pushed away, but felt her strength ineffectual against him, yet tried anyway, pushing all her will into her hands as she shouted.

"No!" as the word left her mouth, a sudden flash blinded her, taking her vision and filling it with floating coloured spots. The body under her hands had disappeared, and she shook her head, trying to clear her sight.

As it started to abate, she heard the sound of pounding hoofs, and could vaguely make out two horses approach down the path from the direction she had been travelling, with her own bolted horse strung behind.

"Do you require aid, milady?" a strong voice called, and Caroline could make out, as her sight returned to normal, two men dismounting and coming toward her at a swift pace. Both dark and tall, they exuded power, though their expressions were friendly enough.

"Lady Caroline, are you harmed? We heard your cry" one said, his earnest expression calming her.

"How do you know who I am?" she asked stupidly, forgetting everything Klaus had told her of for a moment.

"My name is Stefan. I am one of the Princes royal guard" Stefan explain, and Caroline again, felt strangely comforted by the presence of Klaus's men.

"And a family friend of course" the other added, and Caroline turned to his more fully, seeing a mischievous twinkle to his eye.

"Apologies, allow me to introduce Lord Kol Mikaelson, the Prince's younger brother" Stefan said, and Caroline watched as Kol picked up her gloved hand and pressed a kiss on the back.

"Come now Stefan, I am quite sure she has heard of the most handsome member of the Mikaelson family by now" in the pause following this declaration Caroline mutely shook her head slightly.

"Well, I won't be offended, I will endeavour to make up for the oversight." He said, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm and turning to the path behind them.

"Now, let us examine what incident has occurred here, endangering the life of our fair princess. Brother will not be pleased" he said, with a dark grin. Through the fallen leaves, she could see a wide circle has appeared, that had seemed to have pushed the foliage back, creating a ring around her. At the outermost edge a space showed where a body had landed, and then disappeared.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Stefan asked.

"There was a man, dark hair and piercing silver eyes. He… accosted me. He seemed to have a score to settle with the Prince. He seemed… bitter about him, and his family" Caroline said slowly, trying to remember the events, as confused as she was by the light. Kol and Stefan exchanged glances silently.

"And, you fought him off? I am impressed." Kol prompted. Caroline looked down at her hands, flexing them in and out.

"He must have heard you coming and ran" she whispered, sure that her lie was transparent, but not having an idea of how to explain the incident.

"Well, you are unharmed and that is the most important thing, let us return to the Keep" Kol commanded. Caroline hung back as Stefan moved to help her mount.

"I was travelling this way for a purpose. I sought to bring my mother to the Keep for the wedding."

"And Klaus allowed you to do this alone?"

"I didn't ask him for permission. Though he has never forbidden me from leaving the Black City. I do not think he cares much where I go, so long as I return" she said.

"That, my dear, does not sound like my brother at all, though perhaps, you are already softening his controlling ways. Let us complete your errand then, and we shall escort you both back safely, as we are already started on this task" Kol decided, and they mounted swiftly.

"Thank you, for coming to my aid" she said, finally finding a smile for the men as they started down the track.

"My pleasure, for we are to be family are we not? And I predict, sister dear, that you and I shall be closer than any, thick as thieves" he said, his playful grin returned.

"I'd like that" she said, grinning back.

* * *

Her joy was short lived as they returned from the mountains of her home without her mother. She had been absent, and Caroline knew her patterns well enough to see it was a planned absence, and nothing to fret over. Though she was sorely disappointed, she made every effort to converse with her new aquaintenses and get to know them a little more. She found out that Kol had been visiting a neighbouring Kingdom, over the mountains, in efforts to broker a trade deal, though none had been forthcoming. It seemed to depress him to speak of it, so instead Caroline talked of her time at the Keep. As she reached her tale of the werewolves Kol laughed.

"Ah yes, Klaus' little hybrid experiements. How did he react to you letting go of that many fine specimens?" Caroline paled as she recalled it.

"Not well" she murmured, and Kol cast a worried glance at her. He looked questioningly at Stefan.

"I believe Milady was bitten by a wolf, and Klaus decided that leaving her with the bite for a few hours, would be sufficient punishment for disobeying his orders" Stefan said quietly. They rode on in silence.

"Caroline, I am truly sorry for Klaus's behaviour. I wish I had been in residence at the Keep, he has never scared me, and I would have made him see the cruelty of his punishment"

"I think that was the very thing he intended" she said lightly, avoiding their glances.

"It may well be. You must understand that my family… we are the most powerful beings in this realm, and we are immortal, more or less. Sometimes, it is difficult to remember our human selves, our compassion and mercy, when time has ground so much of it from us. When you see those you have loved and friends you have known, all swept away by the relentlessness of time and the fragility of mortality, perhaps, you stop caring about mortal lives, even as you know it is wrong." Kol said.

"I am not making excuses for Klaus, and beware the man who tries, most of what my brother does is inexcusable. But in this, it has been so very long since Niklaus felt pain, felt fear, bled or wept. Sometimes I think these things are so foreign to him, he cannot understand them in others. I am not without these faults at times also, and my immortality comes at the price of human suffering… blood drinking. Though we all of us try to be discreet, and only feed from those who wish it… there are times, when the animal inside overtakes us, and we are helpless in its jaws. There are none with more torment from his inner beast than Niklaus"

"Because he is a hybrid?" Caroline asked. Kol sat up straighter, his surprise plain on his face.

"He told you of it?" she nodded.

"I am surprised, I confess. It is a closely guarded secret and as he cannot change into a wolf.- Kol continued and saw the confusion appear on Caroline's face.

"But that is a story for another day. We must make haste, I think you are tiring and a warm fire and supper calls to me as well"

* * *

Klaus stormed the Keep hall, his figure throwing a long shadow over the walls, as the only light in the room came from the fire.

He had arrived him from his business in the kingdom, foul tempered as always after these excursions, and looking forward to resting, eating, enjoying company, to find that his wayward bride to be had disappeared, and no one know where she had gone, or had seen her leave. Denying the desire to dispatch anyone on duty, servants to guards alike immediately as his anger had boiled up, he had holed up in the great hall, pondering his options.

Before long, he had received news of his brother and Stefan entering the city, returned from the business in the Shadow Lands, and with them, a blonde haired girl. He igorned the relief he felt at the news and focused on the anger. Anger was what kept him strong, anger was what his enemies feared.

As he waited, what felt like an exorbitant amount of time for them to reach the Keep and finish in the stables, he kept his anger at a steady bubble. A slow simmer as he sat upon the throne and glowered at the door.

At length, a servant opened, and announced them. He sat back, feeling a sensation sweep over him at the sight of Caroline, alive and unharmed. He hated how soothing the feeling was.

"Dear brother! You are kind to await our arrival, a welcoming committee if ever there was one" he ignored Kol's jibes, his focus on the little white face that was at present avoiding his gaze.

"Caroline" he said slowly, the word uncurling across the space between them. She risked a glance at him, her cheeks tinting delightfully at his hot gaze. So, she knew she had been tempting his anger then, and had gone ahead regardless. He motioned her forward. She approached the podium as he stood and stepped down, bringing himself level with her. His dark stare bore into her.

"Where have you been, my dearest?" he asked lightly, even as fear and anger made him want to crush her to his chest and compel her to remain forever inside the castle.

"Before I tell you, you must promise you won't be angry" she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why would I promise that?" he asked.

"Because, if you recall, you have never forbidden me from leaving the city, only not to leave my rooms in my previous clothes." She said, pulling open her cloak at the neck she displayed a gown underneath.

"And I am wearing something your sister provided, so I have not disobeyed you" she said defiantly. He considered her words.

"Are you telling me Rebekah colluded-"

"No! Of course not. But when the servants had taken all my other clothes, and before my gowns were made what was I supposed to do? Remain in my bed, naked, the entire time?" she said rashly, and her eyes widened as she saw Klaus smile slowly at her words.

"I see I will have to be more prescriptive in my requests." He said.

"Were you running away?" he asked suddenly, his anger surging back in at the thought. She looked surprised at his words, before shaking her head slowly.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't. I am bound to you, and we know it well. I do not think there is a way to escape the binds of prophecy" she said, with a strained smile. He once again pushed down the smallest part of him that urged him to push her to say perhaps it was not only prophecy between them, and yet, he knew it could only be. He had treated her ill so far, and no fair maiden would ever fall for a beast willingly.

"I travelled to the mountains, and I sought to bring my mother for the wedding" she confessed, biting her lip as she looked at him through her lashes. He wondered a moment if she was attempting to manipulate him, but her eyes were innocent of guile, and genuine sort of desire burned there.

"It is dangerous to travel alone without guards or myself. You are no longer a peasant nobody, and could be used against me by my enemies, of which, there are many" he said, turning from her to the table set with food and drink. Idly he picked up one of the plates with cheese and grapes and turned back to her.

"Eat, you must be hungry, and retire, you must have travelled far today" he instructed, feeling oddly satisfied when she nodded in agreement. She seemed to be about to speak again, though she apparently decided not to as she turned to leave.

"Caroline" he called as she reached the threshold.

"Yes milord" she replied, over her shoulder.

"My retinue and I have also travelled far these past days, and I have returned with a gift for you. She awaits you in your rooms" he said, and couldn't help a laugh forming, as Caroline face transformed into an expression of joy, and she sprang from the room, her cloak whirling, grapes tumbling to the floor, as in a flash of a brilliant smile, she was gone.

"Well well, I see this month has wrought quite the change" Kol said, looking appraisingly at him. Klaus scowled back.

"What news of the Shadow Lands? Were you able to reach an agreement?"

"None. Mikael remains too proud to receive our aid, and uncaring of the starving within his lands. Holed up in his castle he sees little of it." Kol said, helping himself to food.

"As though he would care if he did" Klaus muttered darkly.

"There is something else" Kol said, Klaus watched as Stefan shifted from a patient listener, to battle ready alertness.

"Caroline was almost attacked on the road. We arrived to help, but it was over by then" Kol said, popping grapes in his mouth.

"Attacked? Who would dare?" Klaus growled, feeling the strangest pressure in his fingertips, as they pressed into the throne.

"I know not. She had dispatched her foe before we reached them" Kol said and Klaus relaxed back, his mind working furiously.

"How?" he said at last.

"I know not, and nor does she, I believe. But she was shaken by it." Kol said. Klaus inspected his fingertips, seeing a shadow of black resting behind the nails, hard and sharp, sheathed inside his skin. They were tingling as he hadn't felt in centuries.

"So… my little mouse has claws" he murmured.

"How very interesting."


End file.
